The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf
by Frequent Reader
Summary: The time of deciding the Lord of Darkstalkers is coming, and Demitri intends to claim it before anyone else. The threat of Pyron stands in the way of his goal. Morrigan helps Demitri, but can she be trusted? And what is his connection to the catwoman Felicia? Felicia's destiny becomes intertwined with that of Demitri and one Jon Talbain... Read and review plz!
1. Prelude to Darkness

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom.

Introduction: My second fic. This time it is a sort of novelization of a Darkstalkers manhwa (Chinese manga) I once came across. Special thanks to Kiv for being able to read and translate it. I found the story to be quite an interesting take on how things go in the Darkstalkers world. Unfortunately, it never finished. Now here it is, with a bit of a twist to sort of match the one we know.

Here's hoping there be a DS4.

Chapter 1: Prelude to Darkness

In the beginning of the world, when humans were still undeveloped apes, the earth wasn't a primeval place like most historians and scientists have thought. There was a group of beings whose intelligence and power towered over all else. They ruled this small yet resourceful planet for decades. But we can only barely identify their name from ancient documents.

Their name is Demon.

From Hebrew descriptions, Demon is the opposite of righteous and light. They worship evil and darkness, and are repressed under the might of "God". But this is just merely an old myth. Real Demons can't be repressed even by God.

They are also known under another name: Darkstalkers.

They are beings above all might and power. They are violent and bloodthirsty, even the so-called strongest beings on the earth, the T-Rex, were driven to extinction by their attacks. The meaning of their lives is to conquer. Their history is constructed with nonstop holocausts among themselves. And because of this, they can never get away from the fate of extinction. Their numbers decreased drastically.

At the same time, there was another group of intelligent beings that started to evolve. Gradually, they took over the Darkstalkers' place and became the rulers of the Earth. This group of species who obtained infinite potential is… humans!

With their growing huge numbers, humans control all things on the earth by uniting together. As for Darkstalkers, they hide themselves into shadow and darkness, living a life of hibernation.

Originally, living in peace and harmony is the way of nature. However over several thousands of years, humans started to get themselves driven by selfishness, pride, greed… Following the Darkstalkers' footsteps, they started wars against each other. Besides wars, they started to destroy nature. Atomic bombs, wood cutting, and pollution are driving the Earth to the brink of destruction. If the Earth is destroyed, the Darkstalkers living in darkness and shadow would share the same fate, therefore, they feel there is a need for them to take control over the Earth once again.

From this moment on, Darkstalkers step out of darkness and fuse into human society. Disguised as humans, they are growing their power, waiting for the chance to take over the Earth again. The Darkstalkers are coming to save the Earth, but that doesn't mean they would also save the humans.  
Because in their eyes, humans are beings far worst than demons. After all, it is humans who drove the Earth to this situation.

So what are we humans supposed to do? Should we help save the Earth? Or should we save ourselves first?

In Makai, is there anyone willing to save us?

Bucharest, Romania in the present day…

Bucharest is famous for having hundreds of castles, which earned it the name of "City of Castles". Despite the industrialization of cities, Bucharest managed to maintain much of its past local history. In the heart of this city is a building which controls the trades and economy of the country of Romania.

Outside the building, several news reporters and their crews waited.

"This news could shake the whole world…"

"Do you know it? It is all about that Maximoff guy's decision…"

"I heard he is investing some astronomical amount of money into those castles."

"I've been waiting for more than three hours, but we still haven't seen him."

The chatter stopped when the reporters heard footsteps coming down the stone stairs of the building's entrance. It was a lean man with dark brown hair waved off to the side, clad in a traditional Romanian nobleman's attire.

"Here he comes!" said a reporter.

The reporters immediately swarmed the man as he walks down the steps towards his waiting limo.

"Mr. Maximoff…"

"Mr. Maximoff…"

"Mr. Maximoff…"

The man is Demitri Maximoff, a self-made billionaire who settled down in Romania. However, the truth is that he is more than what he appears. His guise is merely a front of what he truly is. Though he appears human, he is, in fact, a Darkstalker, a vampire to be precise. Using his powers, he managed to hide himself within the human society.

The reporters began to ask him their questions.

"Mr. Maximoff, you are a billionaire, but yet your identity is in such secrecy, can you tell us what is your profession?"

"Of what do those castles attract you?"

"Mr. Maximoff, can you tell us why do you invest such large amounts of money into those castles?"

Demitri answers all these questions with only a smile as he stopped next to his limo. "Per today's decision of purchasing the castles, it is based on my passion of castles. I wish to try my best to protect these valuable historical buildings. As for anything about me, sorry, I would like to keep it personal."

While the interview was going on, on the other side of the street, a mother and her young daughter were talking a walk. The little girl held a white cat in her arms. The cat's head perks up, seeing something and immediately jumps out of the girls hands.

"Huh? Kitty? Where are you going?" said the confused girl.

The cat runs across the road where the girl immediately gave chase, much to the mother's shock. "Darling! Wait!"

The girl managed to catch up to her cat and picked it up. "Naughty Kitty! You shouldn't run off like that!"

Unfortunately, she then noticed she was right in the path of a large freight truck speeding right towards her. The driver was downing a bottle of beer before noticing the girl in his path and quickly jammed on the brakes. Unfortunately, the brakes were out and was unable to stop.

"MOM!"

"BABY!"

The commotion caught the attentions of the news crew and Demitri.

"What is happening?" said one reporter.

"Oh my God.. that girl is gonna die..." said another.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment. Demitri looked on with an emotionless gaze. While the attention diverted away from him due to the soon to be fatal accident, Demitri clenched his fist to his side, which began to crackle with power.

What happened next was basically a blur. Something flew towards the front of the truck at an inhuman speed, smashing its front with great force and leaving behind a huge bat-shaped impression in it. With a resounding crash, the huge truck was totaled and stopped in an instant before it could hit the girl and her cat, as it had hit a wall. Unfortunately for the driver, who wasn't wearing his seatbelt, he went crashing and flying out through the windshield and skidding on the road ahead past the girl.

"What just happened?" The driver asked in confusion as he looked up from his landing place, slowly getting up from the bad fall.

The little girl was just as confused, wondering what had happened. Her mother immediately ran towards her, sweeping her daughter up in a protective embrace.

"Darling!"

"Mom…"

"You scared Mom! Don't ever do that again! I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you…"

The driver looked at his destroyed truck. "My truck… what the hell did I just hit…?"

Several witnesses to the event couldn't believe their eyes

"No way! The truck is totalled and yet nothing happened to the girl..."

"I can't believe my eyes!"

"It must be some kind of miracle!"

Using the commotion, Demitri quietly leaves the scene in his limo. "Let's go."

His driver, an old bearded/mustached man with long grey hair tied in a low ponytail nodded as he started the car and drove for home. "Master, you always tell us to keep out of trouble, see what you have done."

"Come now, Denial. I cannot stand watching such an adorable life lost under a truck." Said Demitri.

Denial knew his master well. "If someone happened to know it was you who stop the truck, he or she might have guessed you were saving the little girl. Who would have guessed the one you wanted to save was... that cat?"

"Denial, of course I intended to save the cat. Humans' lives mean nothing to me. The cat just happened to be where the girl was, that's all." Demitri looked at his right middle finger, which had a ring of pure ivory. The ring's emblem was in the shape of a cat's head with eyes made of emerald and framed by a tail. _'I wonder how she is doing right now…'_

"It is all humans' fault for making the Earth into this situation. They are not worth saving. The Voice of Makai already appears, that means the day of deciding the lord of Darkstalkers is coming. There is going to be a huge battle, we shouldn't meddle with the humans' affairs too much." Said Denial.

"I understand, the Voice of Makai foreshadows his arrival to the human realm. There is a great secret behind the Voice of Makai. Every hundred years, it would gather up all Darkstalkers and guide them to their fate. It affects us all. To become the strongest, I won't fear even him should he come in person or join forces with other Darkstalkers!"

Demitri frowned as he thought about 'him' and what had happened in the past. Why would Demitri, being a Darkstalker himself, go against other Darkstalkers? And who is this person he spoke of?

Later that night…

Demitri's limo passes through the impoverished district from the city central. The disguised vampire suddenly felt unstable.

"Stop the car, Denial. I smell something disgusting lurking round here…"

To be continued…

Well, that's it so far. My second fic after my long-running "Ranma Club". Now give us a Darkstalkers 4, Capcom!

Read and review, please!


	2. Zombie Attack

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 2: Zombie Attack

In the impoverished district of Romania, crimes are all over the place. It would be foolish to be out there in the late hours what with all the thugs and the like lurking around in the dark alleyways. Despite this, a young red-haired mother is walking her baby in its stroller through such a place. This would seem rather foolish.

Suddenly, the mother was stopped when a huge thug stood before her and her stroller. She was greatly startled at his sudden appearance as he chuckled deviously.

"What do you want?" asked the young mother.

"You're out awfully late, girly. Don't you know places like these are dangerous at night?" the thug asked mockingly.

"I… I was just heading back home… so if you'll excuse me…"

"Hold it. You're gonna have to pay the toll fee, girly. Otherwise, I'll be forced to play with your little baby there." The thug looks at the baby in the stroller. "Such an adorable little guy. Would be a shame if something happened to him, wouldn't it?" He reaches his hand out towards the baby.

"No! Don't! Don't touch him!" shouted the mother.

"Then you'd better pay my toll, girly." Said the thug.

The baby showed no fear as it continued to smile adorably. Suddenly, this adorable baby flashed the thug an evil smile. To the thug's surprise, the baby's features changed to that of a zombie baby.

"Wh-what!? What is that thing!?" said the thug. The zombie baby flash a set of sharp teeth and jumped the thug, biting his arm and drawing blood. "GYAAAAH! MY ARM! GET THIS THING OFF ME!"

"I warned you not to touch him…" said the mother coldly. Her eyes turned red and her beautiful features turned to that of an undead zombie. "Who asked you to be so nosy?Curse your fate for running into us. Now DIE!"

The female zombie lunges forward and drives into the thug feet first, smashing him into the alley wall before tearing his head off in a gush of blood.

"Hmph… humans are scum…" said the female zombie. She looks off to the side to see the baby zombie continuing to eat the thug's corpse. The female zombie gets annoyed and throws the decapitated thug's head at the baby zombie, causing him to halt in his feeding. "Will you quit eating already!? We're lucky no one saw us! If our identities get found out, what would you do if master blames us?"

"Too bad, it is too late for that. How dare you hunt in my area?"

The two zombies were surprised at the new voice and looked up to see a cloaked figure standing on some suspended cables. There stood Demitri Maximoff in his true Darkstalker form. He was clad in a dark blue nobleman's attire with brown boots and a flowing black cape. His eyes glowed with an eerie red light and his brown hair flared upward as if it were a flame.

**Vampire: Demitri**  
**Place of birth: Romania**  
**Year of birth: 1483**

"Vampire Demitri? I've heard enough about vampires, let's see if they are really that strong!" said the female zombie as she stood poised to attack.

Demitri jumped down and immediately rushed at the zombie who countered with her sharp nails. She became confused when her attack missed and Demitri seemingly just went past her without attacking. She turned towards Demitri's back, who stood still.

"Haha! After all, Mr. Vampire is only good at dodging around!" the female zombie mocked.

Demitri turned to look at the zombie before simply asking, "Tell me, what is the feeling of being stabbed through?"

"What?!"

The next thing the female zombie knew, her entire upper torso had a huge hole blown through. Demitri's attack was so fast that the female zombie didn't even realize she had already been killed. Her undead corpse fell over and smashed to pieces upon hitting the ground, shocking the baby zombie.

"Little one, go join your mom!" said Demitri as he towered over the remaining zombie.

The baby zombie was in a panic after seeing what Demitri had done to his partner and immediately ran away to avoid a similar fate. Unfortunately, in his panic, he failed to realize he had run into a dead end. He slowly turned around to see that Demitri had already caught up to him. There was no way out as the vampire is blocking off the only exit from the alleyway.

"I told you I won't let you escape from this impoverished district. No matter where you run, you will still run into your death." Said Demitri.

Seeing how he was already doomed, the baby zombie tries a suicidal lunge at Demitri. "For Ozomu-sama!"

The baby zombie struggles in despair, but in Demitri's eyes, it was laughable at best. Almost lazily, Demitri swings his fist at the baby zombie's head, causing his body to explode in a gory mess. Demitri looks about coldy down another alleyway, his senses still on high alert.

"Don't hide, you loser! I know you're here! Come out so I can teach you a lesson!" shouted Demitri as he throws a piece of the zombie's corpse at the wall. The blood from the corpse suddenly travels across the wall towards Demitri's target. The blood trail is halted when a bony hand slams against the wall, cancelling out the power.

"Hehe… haven't seen you for a hundred years, and Mr. Vampire is still as stiff as ever…"

Demitri frowned as he looked in the direction of the annoying voice. Up ahead, he could make out another zombie. This one had light blue skin, wearing purple pants with a union jack print on one leg, fingerless gloves, and a spiky shin had a shock of purple hair and his rib bones protruded out of his chest. Slung on his back is an electric guitar.

"Baby! Give me a kiss!"

**Zombie: Lord Raptor**  
**Birth place: Australia**  
**Birth year: 1889**

"Raptor…" said Demitri.

"That's LORD Raptor!" said Raptor. "I'm a different zombie from before!"

"Worthless trash! I'll scatter your bones again!"

"I'll show you the pleasure of pain!"

Demitri and Raptor charge at each other.

Just outside the area, Denial waits in the limo for Demitri to return. He takes out a cigarette and lights it up.

"I guess Master must have met the sick zombie..." said Denial as he let out a puff of smoke. He looks at his side-view mirror and sees a reflection of someone in the sky. "Hmm? Oh! It's her."

Under the moonlight, a slim body passed by, a beautiful woman with an attitude of ice, yet seductive. Is her inner nature as attractive as her physical appearance?

Back to the fight…

Raptor was sent flying and bodily crashed into a car, smashing it hard. He looked up in time to see Demitri flying towards him.

"Raptor, you feel the pain now?" asked Demitri as he was about to attack again.

"Hehe... that's not painful at all! Let me teach you what pain really is!" said Raptor as his rib bones shot out towards the vampire.

Before the sharp bones could hit Demitri, he vanished in a puff of smoke to reappear several feet up.

"Isn't your fighting style a bit too old? Let's see what you can do with this! BAT SPIN!"

Demitri spin-dives towards Raptor feet first while his body was wrapped in his cloak his lower body burning with his power.

"I've been powered by Ozomu-sama! Let's hear the sound of your bones getting sawed off! Hell Chainsaw!" Raptor counters by lashing out with a kick, his foot turning into a chainsaw blade. "Let's do this, Mr. Vampire!"

Both of their attacks collide with each other.

'_He is indeed much stronger than before, no wonder he acts so cocky.'_ Demitri thought.

'_That damn vampire is getting stronger too.'_ Raptor thought.

Demitri and Raptor's attacks caused them to push away from each other. Raptor slams into the ground and quickly bounced up onto a sign while Demitri is slammed into a hotel's neon sign, breaking it.

"Demitri, are you excited? Guess the power Ozomu gave me did surprise you, right? I still have much more to show!" said Raptor.

"Then let's show me what you've got, you damn zombie!" said Demitri as he flared his aura.

"Don't get hasty, buddy. Let me play you a death serenade!" Raptor whips out his electric guitar and channels his power into a destructive a sound wave. He starts to jam on it with heavy death metal.

'_There is a huge power inside his sound.'_ Thought Demitri.

Through his music, Raptor's power has surrounded the whole area and his fighting spirit raises to its peak. Sparks of electricity shoot out from Raptor's guitar.

"Hahaha! You excited? Are you ready to experience death now?" taunted Raptor.

"Just shut up and die!" shouted Demitri as he charged at Raptor.

"Hey! I'm not done yet!" said Raptor. "You have ruined the tone! Seems like you cannot wait to die! Fine! Let me help you out!" The zombie rocker unslung his guitar and filled it with his power. "Come on baby! It's show time!" The guitar sprouts a demonic face on its side as Raptor holds it by the neck above his head. "Mr. Vampire, kiss my baby!"

Raptor does an overhead swing with the demonic electric guitar towards Demitri, who never expected the instrument to transform the way it did.

From a building rooftop nearby, a lone figure watches the battle below. A voluptuous woman with flowing green hair, dressed in a black leotard with pink bat-printed stockings, black high heel boots, and orange arm sleeves. From her back were large bat wings and from her head smaller bat wings. She is a succubus, another Darkstalker. She watches the battle with a sort of longing in here green eyes.

"Demitri... I so miss you..."

**Succubus: Morrigan**  
**Birth place: Scotland**  
**Birth year: 1678**

To be continued…

The fight between Demitri and Raptor has commenced. What is Morrigan's purpose?

Read and review, please!


	3. A Catwoman's Freedom

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 3: A Catwoman's Freedom

Demitri was surprised at the demonic guitar being swung towards him, but quickly reacted from his years of fighting. Pulling his hands back, which glowed with power, he throws them forward.

"Try my… CHAOS FLARE!" Demitri launched a searing ball of flame towards Raptor. The fireball reduced Raptor's guitar to ashes in an instant. Raptor was shocked but quickly and barely managed to dodge the attack to avoid a similar fate. Jumping back towards the alleyway wall, he looked down at Demitri in anger.

"That was my best axe, you blood-sucking bastard!" shouted Raptor. He kicks off the wall towards Demitri for his counter attack. His body contorts into a strange shape as he spins rapidly. "DEATH HURRICANE!"

Demitri quickly dodges to the side just before the ground he was standing on was torn up from Raptor's attack. Unfortunately for him, since he had committed to his attack, his speed decreased, giving Demitri a window of opportunity. The vampire lashes out with his leg, kicking Raptor hard in the face. The force of the kick was great enough to smash Raptor into the wall of a nearby derelict building.

"Don't think just by working under Ozomu would make you great. In my eyes, you are just a piece of trash!" said Demitri.

Demitri was quickly upon Raptor, giving the zombie no time to recover. Focusing his power into his fists, Demitri smashed Raptor through the wall and inside the building. Not ending his assault, Demitri landed a hard uppercut to Raptor's chin, slamming him upwards into the ceiling where Demitri then flew upwards, launching a barrage of punches into him, smashing through all the floors above until they wound up on the rooftop.

Raptor crashed pitifully upon the rooftop, coughing up blood as Demitri stood on the rooftop ledge looking down on him. Angrily, he gets back up while emitting electricity from his body. Demitri just meets Raptor's angry expression with a cold smirk.

"What the hell are you smiling about!?" asked Raptor.

"You are still a pathetic zombie." Said Demitri. "When I came to this world, you were just a little scum. What makes you think you can defeat me? You will always lose to me even if you are working under Ozomu."

"So... so what?"

Despite his defiance, Raptor knew he was losing this fight.

On the rooftop of a shorter adjacent building, Morrigan looks up towards where the fight was happening. "Demitri…" Her head perked up when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she saw Demitri's servant, Denial. "It's you."

Denial nodded as he stood a short distance away from Morrigan. "How is everything, Miss Aensland? Seeing how concerned you are, are you still in love with master? Haha..."

Morrigan felt a bit angry at what was said, but it was soon replaced with sadness. "Denial, don't you know Demitri only has 'Felicia' on his mind?"

Flashback, Romania ten years ago…

Demitri belongs to the vampire clan, and Morrigan belongs to the succubus clan. Both clans survived by blood sucking, they belong to the same species. Different from other demons, the blood sucking species are so powerful that they have the ability to take human forms.

One day, a circus was having freak shows in Demitri's area.

Demitri and Morrigan took human form posing as tourists and went to the circus. Many sideshow freaks were on display, deformed humans: a cyclopean man, a heavyset man with a huge hanging nose, a three-headed green-skinned baby, a short fat man who looked to be nothing but fat, a man with 4 arms, and others. The two disguised Darkstalkers didn't find it at all interesting. None of these misfits were real Darktalkers like themselves.

Upon leaving, there was one last display in a small cage outside, catching Demitri's attention. Inside was a female, and the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes upon. She was humanoid with a voluptuous figure. Her distinguishing feature was that she was also part cat. Her arms and legs from the elbows and knees down were covered in white fur, and her hands and feet were oversized paws where three-inch magenta claws protruded from each digit. White fur stripes lined her naked body like a skimpy thong bikini, just barely covering her privates and satisfying the bare minimum. A long tail came out from the small of her back, and cat ears protruded from her mane of waist-length blue hair. She was a vision of exotic and unparalleled beauty that seemed otherworldly. She stood out from the rest of the sideshow attractions like a sore thumb.

The catwoman sat in the cage, hugging herself. Although being trapped inside the cage and has to endure everybody's look, she doesn't feel scared nor confused. Her blue-green eyes are so deep like she is looking at a different world, reflecting a deep sadness that contradicted her angelic features. The catwoman's sad expression heavily touch Demitri's heart.

Demitri didn't need supernatural senses to tell the catwoman was different from the other sideshow freaks. He could also sense that she, too, is a Darkstalker. But how did she get there in the first place?

Thedisguised vampire heads for the circus exit.

"Demitri, are we leaving so soon?" asked Morrigan.

"Is there anything worth seeing here?" replied Demitri.

Demitri leaves the circus in disgust. _'Maybe there isn't anything worth seeing, but there is someone worth visiting…'_

Later that night, after the circus closed up, the catwoman was still outside in her cage sleeping. The wind howled as the full moon shone in the night sky. The catwoman's eyes suddenly snapped open when she sensed someone nearby. Sitting up, she looked about.

"He-hello…? Is anyone out there…?" She was taken by surprise when Demitri in his vampire form suddenly appeared before her. Failing to ignore his feeling, the vampire came back to the circus. "A vampire? Who are you? What do you want?"

Actually, even Demitri himself is not sure why he came back. Surprisingly, he wanted to give some hope to the catwoman. "Calm yourself. My name is Demitri Maximoff. What is your name, my dear?"

"I-I'm Felicia…"

"Felicia… a beautiful name. Would you like to change your fate?"

Felicia looked confused, but nodded. Freedom is a dream that almost anyone trapped inside a cage would want. In less than a second, Felicia's wish came true. Demitri easily destroyed the steel bars of the cage. Getting Felicia out, Demitri grabs her around her waist and jumped away. They both land on top of the big circus tent.

"Am I free now?" asked Felicia.

"Not yet. If you don't have enough power to hold it tight, freedom will disappear in seconds." Replied Demitri. He holds his hand out to Felicia. "Let me give you true power."

"True… power?" Felicia looked at Demitri's hand then at his face. "No!"

"But why?"

"I'm sorry, I really am grateful you helped me. Although I want power, I can't stand the feeling of being pitied by others…"

"At first I thought I pitied you, but that's wrong." Demitri beckons to Felicia, who then slowly walked up to him. She didn't know why, but she couldn't turn away from the vampire. "Because vampires don't pity."

Demitri placed his hands on Felicia's shoulders, who trembled at his touch. Slowly, Demitri's vampic side emerged as he bared his fangs. Next thing Felicia knew, Demitri sunk his fangs into her delicate neck, drawing blood. Felicia could only softly moan at the sudden bite.

'_This is something even I can't explain. Maybe that is what they call 'love'.'_ Thought Demitri.

"De… Demi… tri…?" said Felicia before her eyes whited out and fell unconscious in Demitri's arms.

"Do not worry." Demitri uses his powers to levitate Felicia's unconscious body before him. Holding his hands out, Demitri envelopes Felicia with an energy aura, filling her body with his power. "Under the name of Maximoff, I will give you eternal life and huge power." Felicia's form soon began to crackle with supernatural energy. "Now, reincarnate! Felicia!"

"MMEEEEEOOOOOOOWW!"

Power flows through the catwoman's body, raising her from her stasis. With a yowl and a slight explosion of ki, Felicia's rebirth is complete. She is no more defenseless, from now on, she is a powerful beast as her fighting instinct has been awakened.

Felicia jumped off of the circus tent and landed on the ground. She turned around to see thugs serving as the circus security coming out armed with clubs, having heard the commotion.

"Hey! The cat monster has escaped her cage!"

"Get her!"

"It's time you learned discipline again, cat!"

The thugs, twenty in all, surrounded Felicia on all sides. These men and the higher ups had often mistreated and humiliated her while she was in captivity. Even the circus freaks ousted her for being different from them. This whole time, Felicia was forced to endure it all, but this time, things were different.

The armed men all converged on Felicia to subdue her, but she bared her claws and lashed out. She slashed at a man's chest, causing him to scream in agony, then swung her leg around in a roundhouse kick at another's head. A thug swung his club at Felicia's head, but she quickly ducked and countered with an upperslash, knocking him back. A man who tried to blindside Felicia was met with a scratch to the gut from the catwoman. Felicia turned to see a thug coming fown on her with an overhead smash from his club, but she swiped her claws at the club, reducing it to kindling. The man gulped seeing his weapon destroyed before getting kicked in his face, breaking his jaw. Felicia's tail then lashed out to ensnare an unfortunate thug's neck, then swung him around before throwing him into more of them. As another group of thugs ran towards her, Felicia crouched down, focusing her power into her leg before kicking out, releasing a wave of ki that smashed into and knocked the thugs over.

From on top of the circus tent, Demitri observed the fight. Felicia had effectively and systematically defeated all the armed thugs. They all laid out sprawled around her seriously injured and out cold. Felicia looked at her pawed hands in shock, not believing she was able to do that. She looked up to see Demitri on the circus tent, who gives a slight smile and nods. Felicia didn't know why, but she felt happy at the way Demitri was looking at her. In her mind, the vampire had indeed saved her.

"Thank you, Demitri, for the gift you've bestowed upon me. There is something I must do, so I promise I will find you again!" The catwoman runs off into the night.

"And you will soon." Said Demitri. Once Felicia was gone, Demitri flew a few feet upwards above the circus tent. "Before I go…"

Some of the thugs who have been beaten managed to get up. They looked up to see Demitri emitting a flaming aura.

"Huh? What is-"

Demitri fired a huge Chaos Flare attack down at the circus tent, causing a huge flaming explosion that engulfed the whole area, including the thugs who instantly got incinerated by the blast. Everything and everyone in the circus area was reduced to nothing but ashes once the flames died down.

Demitri looked off in the direction Felicia left. Not even he knows where she had gone, but he is sure that eventually the two would meet again. She had something to do once she had been freed. No one knows what kind of burden the catwoman carried in her past.

In the nearby trees, Morrigan is shown to have watched the entire spectacle.

End flashback…

Under the same moonlight, while Morrigan is thinking about her past, Demitri is in a battle. He looks at Raptor with disdain.

"What's the problem, Raptor? Didn't you said you will give me pain?" Demitri asked mockingly.

The only choice Raptor has, is to try his best to see whether he has a chance to survive.

"Damn you!" shouted Raptor. He was next to a tall metal silo chimney and hits it with his fist, breaking it. "Take this, old man!"

Raptor throws the broken metal chimney at Demitri. In Demitri's eyes, that is nothing. He simply punches it into the air then jumps after it.

"Raptor, you are powerful, but your intelligence is too low. What makes you think this junk can harm me? Who do you take me for?" Demitri dives down towards Raptor using the chimney as a make-shift spear. _'Seems like Raptor has almost used up his energy. He can now only rely on weak attacks.'_

Raptor thrusts his elbow forward, where a long bone shot out to stab through and destroy the chimney. Just as it was completely destroyed, Demitri managed to get behind Raptor and delivered a hard kick to the back of the zombie's head. Raptor skidded forward a good distance before coming to a stop. Propping himself back up, he coughs out a good amount of blood. He looked up to see Demitri standing over him.

"Raptor, tonight you will disappear in this human realm." Demitri raised his fist, charging it with power and punches at Raptor with the intent of shattering him to pieces.

Raptor made no attempt to dodge, but he smirked deviously. Before the punch could connect, Raptor suddenly vanished into the ground. A moment later, a Makai beast appeared on the ground behind Demitri, which spat Raptor up out its mouth.

"Gotcha, sucker!" said Raptor.

Demitri turned to see Raptor about to impale him with his rib bones. Before Raptor's attack could hit its target, he is hit in the face by a bat-shaped fireball, knocking him back.

"This move…" said Demitri. He looked up to see Morrigan standing on a swarm of bats.

"Demitri, long time no see." Said Morrigan.

"Morrigan, this does not concern you. Please stay put." Said Demitri.

Although the vampire gave her the cold shoulder, Morrigan still cares for him.

Even though Raptor is badly injured, he still would not let go any chance to attack. Seeing Demitri distracted, Raptor charged at his back.

"Watch out!" shouted Morrigan.

Demitri whips around and punches Raptor away with a backfist.

"You are getting on my nerves! I will give you the pain of your life!" Demitri's hands emitted flames and thrust them forward.

"GET MY RAGE!"

Demitri fires off his EX Chaos Flare. Unlike his normal one, this fireball was at least five times larger, and in the shape of a demonic head.

"OH CRAP!" said Raptor.

A huge flaming explosion enveloped the rooftop once the attack met its mark, obscuring it from view. The EX Chaos Flare completely incinerated the entire building rooftop. There was nothing left. Raptor had already been badly injured, why did Demitri need to use such huge power to finish him off? What made the usual calm Demitri get so emotional all of a sudden? Is it because of Morrigan's care of him? Only Demitri himself knows the answer.

Demitri looked about to see Morrigan gone. "Morrigan... she left. What was she doing here?" Denial suddenly dropped down near his master.

"Master, let's head back to the castle."

"Agreed, Denial. I've had enough action for one night."

On top of another building, Morrigan watched as Demitri and Denial left the area. Her original goal was to kill Demitri, but she ended up saving him instead. What does she has in mind?

In a sewer…

It was revealed Raptor just barely managed to avoid taking the full force of the EX Chaos Flare by escaping with his Hell Gate teleport maneuver. The zombie hides in the sewer to recover. He never thought he would lose in such a pathetic way.

"Damn it all! I thought I had him…" said Raptor.

"Raptor!"

Raptor nearly jumped out of his undead skin when he heard the voice. He had a bone chilling feeling as he recognized who the voice belonged to. Slowly turning around, the air before him distorted as a figure appeared before him.

"Er… Ozomu-sama… eh heheh…" Raptor quickly dropped to his knees bowing to Ozomu. "I already sent my whole army into Romania. Demitri is under our monitor…" said Raptor shakily.

Ozomu wasn't convinced, however. "Do you know the price of lying to me?" A stream of fire shoots straight to Raptor, engulfing him in flame. Raptor screams out in pain. "Seems like you didn't pay attention to my order. I just ordered you to monitor Demitri, and you went all out and fought him without my permission. Now Demitri is alerted. For your punishment, you will be burned for three days and three nights. After that, wait for my order."

Ozomu disappears to leave Raptor in his agony.

"Demitri... I will take my revenge!" said Raptor.

Away from the capital of Romania…

Inside a forest by the bay stands the biggest castle of the country. This is Zeltzereich Castle, where Demitri resides in.

In a secret underground room resembling a lab, Demitri and Denial are focusing on an object. In the middle of the secret room is a huge circle-shaped stone. The stone is fully carved with unknown mysterious symbols and runes. There were five points on its outer edge that glowed orange, four of them had a sort of emblem set into them while the fifth remained empty.

"Master, there's only one key left. With the final key, you can open the royal power hidden by our ancestors in the Satan Dimension'." Said Denial. "After that, you can fulfill the destiny you have waited for one hundred years..."

Demitri nodded. "Denial, I've located the last key. I will go retrieve it myself." He turns to leave.

"That's wonderful! And... Master, Morrigan mentioned about the catwoman, Felicia. Where is she?"

The vampire lord stopped to look at his servant. "Felicia... she is taking her revenge right now."

This surprised Denial. "Revenge?!"

Northern regions of Japan…

In the cold, snowy regions of a mountain forest was an abandoned area consisting of a shrine and a pagoda tower. On top of the snow covered pagoda stood Felicia. What is she doing there? What is it that brought her to such a foreign place?

**Catwoman: Felicia  
Birthplace: America  
Birth year: 1967  
**  
Right now Felicia is waiting for a chance, her eyes staring at the temple across from her like arrows. Within the temple, a red armor and katana covers the whole structure with a heavy stink of blood. Is this evil armor Felicia's target?

To be continued…

Done with this chapter. Demitri had curb-stomped Raptor, and his history with Felicia is revealed. Next, Felicia goes against a certain spirit. Who is Ozomu and what is he planning?

Read and review, please!


	4. Shadows of the Past

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 4: Shadows of the Past

Skies of Romania…

Demitri left his castle and took to the sky towards his next destination. After discovering the location of the final Satan Key, he made his immediate trip.

'_Four down, one to go, I'm so close…'_ thought Demitri. _'Once I get the final key, I can open the way to Makai and claim my ultimate power. If only I had it before then…'_

Flashback, Makai Realm one hundred years ago…

Only the strongest can obtain all. That is the law in Makai, and that is also why the history of Makai is constructed with wounds. Because of that law, Makai falls back into a chaotic massacre after thousands of years.

Outside the Chateau of the Aensland Clan, a bloody war was waged between demons, which had been going on for hours on end, the grounds stained red with blood. A century-younger Demitri races through the bloodshed, killing off any demons getting in his way towards the castle.

In the castle's throne room, a large demon noble sat dead in his elevated throne, soaked in his own blood that began to pool around. The Makai Noble Families couldn't believe it. The Lord of Makai, Belial Aensland, was killed, killed by a mysterious demon who had just showed up out of nowhere. He alone had easily killed his way through the guards and elite to reach Belial. The other fighters of the supporting families, the Bositals, Lepes, Kreutzs, Dreys, Gilmans, and the Funechikas, lay dead around the new demon's feet after having failed to stop him from killing their lord. The demon was a tall, heavily armored being, clad in thick, heavy black armor concealing every part of him with thick gauntlets, spiky shoulder epaulets, and a full helmet with two huge horn protrusions on either side that covered everything save for his glowing orange eyes.

"Hahaha… I, Ozomu, have proven myself the new Lord of Makai by killing Aensland. Why don't you guys succumb?" The demon turned to the last line of defense, a trio of vampires, the Maximoff Clan.

"Lord Aensland led us away from the human realm to Makai. After all the hardship we went through, we finally got peace here, and you dare destroy it?" Asked the senior vampire Baldassare, a mustached vampire with flared up dark brown hair.

Ozomu laughed mockingly. "Peace?! Hahaha...! Peace is against our nature!" He points outside the castle window. "Look outside! Look at how beautiful our soldiers fight! Only by living in warfare and blood can we call it a stimulating and encouraging life! I am correct!" Down below, demons engaged in a bloody massacre where only the strong survived.

The second vampire, Domenico, grew angry at Ozomu's words. "Because we were too bloodthirsty, we ended up nearly extinct and are forced to live in this dark world. What you are doing is just creating destruction! Killing Lord Aensland won't give you the right to rule!" Domenico immediately charged at Ozomu while gathering power into his hands. "Satan power!"

The third vampire, Ettore, quickly circled around to get behind Ozomu. "Ozomu! Taste our Chaos Flare!"

The two Maximoff brothers fired their Chaos Flares at Ozomu from both sides.

"You think this power can stop me? Let me show you what true power is!" said Ozomu as he thrust his hands out to the sides and actually absorbed the fireballs, much to the vampires' shock. "With that puny power, you guys dare challenge me? What do you take me for?"

Suddenly, Ozomu throws a punch at Domenico, his gauntlet-clad fist blowing a hole clear through the vampire's torso, killing him instantly.

"DOMENICO! MY SON!" shouted Baldassare before turning a hateful glare at Ozomu. "OZOMU! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

The elder vampire lord lunged at Ozomu's back with murderous intent.

"You think you can make me pay? Get it memorized, in Makai, only the strongest can obtain all!" said Ozomu as he pulled his fist out of Domenico's dead body, causing it to fall lifelessly to the floor. He then throws a punch at Baldassare, who barely had time to defend and was knocked back, slamming hard into a stone pillar. "That is the law!"

"Even though that is the law, you are not the strongest!"

Ozomu turned at the sound of the additional voice.

"CHAOS FLARE!"

A fireball breaks through the wall and heads for Ozomu. Although it is also Satan power, that fireball is thirty times more powerful than the three Maximoff members. Ozomu quickly brought up his arms to block, and despite his power, he still got pushed back a distance.

Demitri Maximoff appeared through the hole he made as he faced down Ozomu, his cape flapping in the wind.

"Little brother, you finally came back!" said Ettore.

Demitri doesn't respond to his father and older brother, his focus being on Ozomu as he made his approach.

Ozomu smirked behind his masked helmet. "Demitri... Everybody said your power is the strongest in the recent three hundred years... seems like it isn't a rumor after all."

Demitri slowly approached Ozomu with steady steps, then stopped as he felt something under his boot. Looking down, he saw he had stepped in a puddle of blood belonging to his recently deceased brother, Domenico.

"Big brother!" said Demitri. Seeing the corpse of his big brother, Demitri's features became furious as he turned towards Ozomu. "I'll kill you!"

Demitri's demonic aura flared to life as his body crackled with supernatural energy.

Ozomu braced himself. _'His power is increasing exponentially, he IS indeed the strongest in the recent hundreds of years.'_

Demitri shot himself towards Ozomu with unnatural speed, raining blow after blow of furious punches, giving Ozomu no time to fight back.

"You love killing, eh? Let's see how you feel when getting killed yourself!" shouted Demitri as he continued his assault.

"Demitri! You think you can defeat me?" said Ozomu as he managed to throw a punch at Demitri, knocking him back. He followed up by firing off two huge ethereal fists at Demitri.

Demitri recovered to see the attack heading for him. "Let's see whether your punch wins or my Satan Power emerges victorious. Makai's strongest power, Black Satan!" Demitri's body darkened and took a more demonic shape, his cape forming into wings. "DEMON BLAST!"

Black Satan is the most powerful force of the vampires. Demitri is the only one in the whole vampire clan able to use this power. So far, no one survived this attack. Will Ozomu be the first one to survive?

Demitri and Ozomu's attacks collided head on, causing the area to be destroyed by the backlash of power. Baldassare and Ettore had to shield themselves with barriers to protect themselves from the energy backlash. Once the onslaught ended, Demitri and Ozomu stood a distance from each other.

A moment later, Demitri coughed blood. At the same time, Ozomu's armor began to crack.

Ozomu despite his armor cracking, began to chuckle. "Demitri, is that your final power? I've already use sol fire to light my soul, no power can defeat me!"

Demitri looked up in confusion. "What are you laughing about? I just broke your armor! Soon, you won't be protected from me!"

Ozomu laughed out loud. "Fool! You think my armor protects me from you? On the contrary! It's what's protecting YOU from ME! You see, this armor is a limiter for my power! Now that you've cracked it… I can fight at my peak!" Ozomu's armored body exploded as metal shards flew off in all directions. In his place stood a malevolent horned being who seemed to be made entirely out of living fire. "Because I am the REAL strongest fighter in Makai! I! AM! PYRON! LORD OF THE LIVING FLAME!"

**Alien: Pyron  
Birthplace: Planet Hellstorm  
Birth year: 1991 (formed on Earth), 65 million BC (biological)**

While hellfire is the source of all fire in Makai, sol fire is the source of fire from the sun. No one, man or beast, could get near it.

"Impossible! If I don't find a way to take care of his sol fire, the whole vampire clan will meet its end!"

Demitri charged at Pyron to take him out fast. Although he was fast, Pyron was faster. The flaming being vanished from sight and in an instant reappeared right in front of Demitri, much to the vampire's shock. Pyron punched Demitri with a flaming fist, knocking him back. The vampire lord had never experienced such pain before as he fell to his knees, coughing up blood. It was taking his strength just to remain conscious.

Pyron stood over Demitri's kneeling form. "Sol fire is the root of all power, no one ever successfully controlled it, but I managed to. And that proves I am the strongest! DIE!"

Pyron throws another flaming punch at Demitri to finish him off. The pyrokinetic alien felt his fist punch a hole through a torso. However, it wasn't his intended targe's.

To Demitri's shock, his father, Baldassare, had gotten between him and Pyron, taking the punch through his own body.

"Father!"

Baldassare grunted in pain as he coughed up blood. "Denial! Take Demitri and run!"

Denial appeared behind Demitri. "Yes sir!"The senior manservant grabbed Demitri and made a break for it.

"Denial! No!" said Demitri. "I can't leave them alone with that monster!"

Denial paid him no mind as he had his orders.

"Want to run?!" said Pyron.

"Son, let's use our most powerful attack!" said Baldassare.

"Yes!" said Ettore.

"You vampires think you can bring me down with you? Stop dreaming!" said Pyron.

Baldassare and Ettore use their most powerful attack on Pyron in one final last ditch effort.

Denial had already carried Demitri a good distance away from the castle. A moment later, the entire castle exploded into a flaming prominence, erasing any trace of its existence.

Denial could only shake his head in sorrow at what happened, but continued to run. "I'm sorry, master…"

Demitri is exhausted, he is now only half conscious.

Baldassare's spirit began to speak in Demitri's mind before he crossed over. _'Demitri, Pyron has mastered the sol fire. You don't have a chance now. The best way is to go back to the human realm. If you managed to get the royal power left in the human realm by our ancestors, you may still have a chance. Lucky for you that with sol fire, Pyron cannot leave Makai before the Makai Voice echoes. Therefore, you have to get all the royal power within that time... You are our only hope!'_

As Denial continued to run with Demitri in tow, the vampire made a mental vow. _'Pyron! I, Demitri, will come back!'_

End flashback…

Demitri could never forget that day even if he wanted to. He was the last of the noble Maximoff Clan. With Pyron's takeover, Demitri was forced to retreat to the human realm to build and recover his power. He was close to obtaining his lost power to fight Pyron on equal footing.

"Pyron, I swear on the Maximoff name that I will kill you with my own hands!"

With that statement, he put on a burst of speed as he flew through the night sky.

Japan northern mountain regions…

Felicia stood on the pagoda tower, watching the abandoned shrine as if waiting for something.

"He's here… I can feel it…" said Felicia.

Inside the shrine, a red suit of samurai armor and a sheathed katana sat on an altar. The armor, known as Hannya, was blood red and the chest plate was shaped like a demon's face. The katana next to it, Kien, began to vibrate.

"The time has come! My power is restored!" said Hannya.

The armor suddenly bursts out a huge amount of power, destroying the whole  
temple in a resounding explosion. Felicia looked on in shock from her perch.

'_That's him! That's him! I have spent years searching, and now finally I found him!'_

A blue-skinned hand holding the katana was seen within the dust clouds. Once the area was cleared up, within the crater was a blue-skinned man wearing the Hannya armor.

"After years of rest, my power finally fully recovered! Haha! I can finally leave this damn place and enjoy slaughtering again!"

**Accursed Samurai: Bishamon  
Birthplace: Japan  
Birth year: 1673**

Although Felicia is very nervous, she understands she cannot attack recklessly until she is sure she can land a hit. However, Bishamon's sword has already felt her presence. Felicia knows she is discovered, and there is no choice but to attack. She jumps off the pagoda towards the samurai spirit.

Bishamon turned to look at the catwoman flying at him. "I didn't expect a challenger right after my awakening."

Grasping Kien, Bishamon does a slash that fired off a crescent wave of energy towards Felicia. Seeing it coming, she quickly maneuvered out of the way to dodge the attack, which hit the pagoda she had been standing on earlier. The tower came down in an instant.

Felicia lands a distance behind Bishamon and shoots him a glare. "I have been searching for you for a long time now. Now I am going to take my revenge!"

Bishamon turned to look at the angry catwoman. "I have never seen you before. Are you a Darkstalker?"

"You must have done too many evil deeds that you cannot remember, but shouldn't you remember who damaged you sword?"

The ghost samurai was shocked upon hearing that. "What? You… are that girl?"

Tears of anger and sorrow flowed down Felicia's cheeks. "Yes! I am the girl whose parents you killed!"

Flashback, 1973 USA…

In a night covered with white snow, the capital city echoed a beautiful song. Christmas Eve, in this joyful festival, every corner was filled with laughter and comfort.

At the US State Department Museum, an art exhibition had been prepared. Two police officers walked down the halls.

"Chief, after the Christmas Eve bell rings, you will be officially retired. Why not go home and rest early?"

The police chief, Brian, looked at his subordinate. "I am still a police officer until the last minute."

"Haha, always were dedicated, aren't you?" The officer stopped. "Ah!"

"What is it?"

"Chief, look at that." The officer pointed at a sheathed katana on a display pedestal.

"It's just a sword, what so special?" asked Brian.

"I've heard that recently, all museums showing Feudal Japanese artifacts are attacked and many people got killed. Our artifacts also include that Japanese sword. I hope nothing will happen."

A museum worker walked in. "Brian, your wife and daughter are waiting for you downstairs."

"Thank you." Said Brian before addressing his subordinate. "I will come back soon."

"Yes, sir!" After Brian left, the officer gave a nervous look at the katana. _'This sword gives me an evil and uncomfortable feeling…'_

Brian opened the window on the fourth floor to see his wife, a beautiful blonde woman, and six-year-old daughter, a cute little girl with blonde hair waiting down below. "Hi Alice! Hi Felicia!"

"Daddy! Mom and I are waiting for you to go to the mass.!" Said Felicia as she held up a decorated crucifix. Little Felicia was a cheerful girl no different from other children.

"Don't worry, I'll be down in a minute." Said Brian.

"AAAAAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!"

Brian was taken by surprise at the ear-piercing scream. "What was that!?" He quickly runs from the window towards the source of the scream.

"Brian... what are you doing?" Alice called out from the street in confusion.

"Daddy..." said Felicia.

Brian runs back into the Japanese art exhibit room, where he was met with a terrifying sight. A ghostly samurai single-handedly held the police officer up by his head.

"Chief..." said the officer.

"Who are you? Let him go!" shouted Brian as he took out his gun. Bishamon faced Brian with no emotion before crushing the unfortunate officer's head in his hand, much to Brian's horror. Brian immediately began to fire his gun at Bishamon, which had little to no effect on him. He soon clicked on empty. "Are you the one going around stealing artifacts?" Bishamon stood silent and turned to look at the katana on display. _'He really wants to take the sword?'_ Thinking fast, Brian grabbed the sword before Bishamon could. "Don't think you can have it!"

Bishamon glowers in anger. "Give Kien back to me!"

"No way!" Brian ran as fast as he could to get away, but unfortunately ran into a dead end where there was naught but a window. "Damn!"

He turned to see Bishamon standing a short distance away, having already caught up to him.

"I won't ask again, human. Give Kien back to me!" Bishamon demanded.

The police chief gritted his teeth_. 'There's no way out… guess I have no choice.'_ Brian unsheathed the katana and lunged at Bishamon. "Go to hell!"

"Foolish mortal!"

Brian held the Kien high as he charged Bishamon, who stood motionless. He became confused when though he was running towards the ghost samurai, he was somehow getting further away. Brian realized with horror that HE was the one moving away and the next thing he knew, he was sent crashing out the window.

He was pushed out the fourth floor window by an invisible force and crashed to the street below right before his horrified wife and daughter, dying instantly.

"BRIAN!"

"DADDY!"

Brian's wristwatch shows exactly 12:00 AM. The Christmas bell rang, symbolizing Brian's official retirement, but he will never get up.

Bishamon then materialized next to Brian's dead body and took the Kien. "Fool! Did you think you were worthy for Kien?"

"YOU MURDERER! Why do you kill my husband!?" Shouted Alice, tears running down her face.

Bishamon turned towards Alice. "A human dares to yell at me? Die!"

The Kien flashed through the air. Before Felicia's horrified eyes, her mother's head fell from her body before the rest of her collapsed to the ground.

'_Daddy... Mom... Why...?'_ Tears flowed uncontrollably down Felicia's face, the situation too much for a six-year-old girl to bear. "NOOOOOOOOO!" She turned towards Bishamon. "You devil! Why did you kill my parents!?"

A family gathering suddenly turned into a nightmare. Felicia began to emit an aura of power as her hair blew upward. Her hair suddenly became thicker and longer before her blonde locks turned blue. A pair of white-furred pointed ears came out of her head and a long tail shot out from her back. Her nails suddenly became sharper and pointed.

'_What is this? This whelp is a Darkstalker?'_ wondered Bishamon.

Felicia's sorrow, anger, and despair at her parents' murder had awakened her dormant Darkstalker genes. Her tears fell onto her crucifix, causing it to emit sparkles. Ignoring how scared she was, Felicia threw the tear-coated crucifix at Bishamon.

"Hmph! What manner of joke is this?" said Bishamon as he held the Kien and swung at the Crucifix. However, he was taken by surprise when the crucifix formed a holy force due to the pure tears and broke Kien in two. Even Bishamon couldn't believe his eyes. He screamed in agony after the Kien broke.

"GYAAAAAH! You dare damage my sword? Mark my words, little girl! I'll pay you back for this!"

Bishamon disappeared into thin air, having been severely weakened.

Felicia was spared from death, but it offered her no peace. She looked at the bodies of her dead parents as her tears returned with a vengeance. Falling to her knees, she softly wept as the snow continued to fall.

After that horrifying night, Felicia was sent to an orphanage where she spent most of her childhood under the care of a kindly nun, Sister Rose. After Sister Rose died, Felicia was once again on her own. She traveled the world trying to survive where she was eventually caught by a circus and was forced to perform freak shows to make ends meet. If not for Demitri, Felicia would still have lost her freedom. Even after the years passed, she never forgot that horrifying night.

End Flashback…

Felicia glared at Bishamon, who stood with Kien held high. He does a downward slash that caused a shockwave to fire out towards the catwoman, but she quickly jumped out of the way towards the samurai with a downward scratch. Bishamon brought up an arm to block the claw attack before pushing Felicia away, who landed and crouched down.

"SAND SPLASH!"

The ki wave shot out from Felicia's kick at Bishamon, who blocked with Kien. He charged forward slashing wildly as Felicia gracefully dodged all the attacks. At one moment, Felicia managed to parry Bishamon's sword hand to scratch him across the face before landing a kick to his chest knocking him back.

Bishamon wipes the blood off his face. "Who would have thought you also gained the power of a Darkstalker. You seem different from before. Tell me, who gave you this power?"

"I will tell you after I shred you into pieces!" shouted Felicia as she charged at Bishamon with claws bared.

Bishamon dodged the claw attack. "Do you really think you have a chance to win? The gap between our power is just too big! ONI KUBI HINERI!"

A large demonic spectral hand suddenly comes out from the mouth of Bishamon's armor and grabs Felicia tightly. She screams out as the hand began to slowly squeeze her. Quickly turning blue and unable to struggle, death seemed only an inch away from her.

"I... I cannot die like this... I have to avenge my parents... I have to go back… to… Demitri..." said Felicia weakly.

The last part caught Bishamon by surprise. "Demitri!?" In his shock, his technique cancelled out, dropping Felicia on the snow into blessed unconsciousness.

"You heard her? She is Demitri's woman!"

Bishamon turned to the new voice to see Pyron's illusion forming behind him.

"Ozomu-sama..." said Bishamon.

"Don't kill her, she is very useful to us." Said Pyron.

"Ozomu-sama, Demitri is a Darkstalker. How would he fall in love with a mortal?"

"Maybe he has stayed in the human realm for too long. Seems like he now acquired human weakness, therefore he is no match for us, but to make him suffer more when he dies, I want him to see her..."

The unconscious catwoman laid in the snow, unaware of what will happen to her and the sinister plot she's about to be dragged into.

'_Demitri…'_

To be continued…

Done with this chapter. The tragic pasts of Demitri and Felicia are revealed, and Pyron is shown to have taken over Makai. Next time, Demitri heads to the desert for the final Satan Key where he encounters a certain mummy, and another person from Felicia's past makes himself known.

Read and review, please!


	5. Tomb of the Pharoah

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 5: Tomb of the Pharoah

The Sahara Desert in Egypt…

The pyramids, following the dreams reborn of the kings of old, the sweat and blood of the slaves turned into historic remains. Egypt is one of the human history's earliest civilizations. It is also the root of cruelty. During the golden age, all people in Egypt believed the pharaoh was the incarnation of God. Excluding nobles, most people spent their whole life working. Lowlife is their identities, poor and suffering is their treatments. And all the civilians' hard work is paid off with... death. It was like they lived only for the royals.

But is there really eternal life? Time has answered us, impossible.

Under the deep night in Egypt, Demitri flies in with the speed of a jet. He traveled all the way from Romania to Egypt. What is his purpose? Demitri thinks back to what Denial told him about his target.

Flashback…

"From what I know, the evil pharaoh was one of the first Ozomu sent to the human realm." Said Denial. "Many years ago, he fought with your ancestors. Your ancestors won, but they lost one of the Satan Dimension Keys to him."

End flashback…

'_I have searched the desert several times already but still found nothing." Said Demitri. "Where is this Anakaris hiding?'_ thought Demitri as he flew above the desert. _'If it keeps on like that, I would have spent too much power…'_

"Ah!" Demitri was surprised when he sees a huge purpleleech crawling in the sand. "A huge leech in the desert?"

Seeing the vampire, the huge leech shows its true face, opening its bloody big mouth, displaying a nasty set of fangs circling about within. It suddenly jumps at Demitri like a whale.

"What?" Demitri had no intention of becoming a meal for such a disgusting creature and raised his fist. "Die!"

Demitri sent the huge leech flying back with a punch, sending it crashing into the sand. He already grew impatient searching for Anakaris, now he vents his frustrations out on the leech. However, he feels the chi of Makai inside this leech, and does the unthinkable: he actually flies right into the leech's gaping maw. 'No wonder it is so big, it is growing by Makai chi...'

Demitri continued to fly fast until he broke out of the leech's back. "Get lost, trash! CHAOS FLARE!" Gathering up power, he blasts the leech with his Chaos Flare, blowing it up and reducing it to flaming pieces. The vampire lord landed on the sand and looked about. _'Since that leech absorbed so much Makai chi, I'm sure Anakaris is around here. But why can't I find him?' _Looking about the vast amounts of infinite sand, he looked down at the sand under his feet and realized. _'Oh, it must be the sand blocking my sight, let me take care of it.'_ Demitri closes his eyes, concentrating to use the technique only vampires can use:

Telepathy, able to spread thoughts and sense to an unlimited distance, usually used to locate enemies and targets. Although it drains a lot of power, this is the only way Demitri can locate Anakaris.

A huge pentagram formed around Demitri in the sand and glowed with an eerie light. Suddenly, the sand inside the pentagram all fly into the air, unearthing a pyramid made entirely of gold.

"Found it!"

Demitri dropped down next to the pyramid entrance, but a deadly atmosphere spreads around the area.

"Who dare enter my tomb?" a voice suddenly echoed from within the pyramid.

" Anakaris, save the tricks. I am Demitri, come out and face me." Said Demitri as he stood before the pyramid.

"Demitri? I heard your name from Ozomu. You are from the damn vampire clan, right? Come in if you want to see me…" said Anakaris's voice.

"You think you scare me?" Demitri's senses went off as he looked down, to see a bunch of bandages shoot out from the sand below him. "What is that?"

The bandages wrap around Demitri's legs before continuing to wrap up his upper body. Before he could get completely mummified, Demitri immediately breaks free of the bandages, sending the pieces flying. However, the bandages get back up and combined into a mesh, forming a tall muscled mummy.

"What is it now?" The mummy attacks Demitri, swinging its huge hand against him, but is dodged. Demitri looked at the mummy in annoyance, not wanting to waste any more time that he wants to. "CHAOS FLARE!"

Demitri fired the huge sphere of hellfire at the mummy, blowing it completely through and reducing it to ashes. The attack kept going and impacted against the pyramid entrance, blowing the heavy doors wide open. With the way open, Demitri calmly entered the pyramid's depths.

Ancient Egyptian pharaohs believed when they die, their spirits would go to the Sun God and got rewarded, then they would go back to life. Besides building huge tombs to protect their riches, ancient Egyptian pharaohs also made their bodies into mummies in order to protect their bodies. What's worse is they even buried civilians alive to serve them when they are reborn. Then there are all the traps protecting the tomb from grave robbers, and the pharaoh's sarcophagus is hidden in the deepest part of the tomb. The pyramid is a symbol of miracles made by humans but also a symbol of the selfishness of the pharaoh.

Demitri pays no attention to any of these because it is humans who brought these upon themselves. The most important task is to find and defeat Anakaris.

'_Hmph… humans are such foolish beings…'_

The vampic Darkstalker continued his trek through the pyramid's depths without trouble until he eventually reached the pharoah's tomb. It was a large, spacious chamber with a fountain that seemed to somehow be still working despite being underground for over thousands of years. In the back he sees a large gold sarcophagus situated on an altar, giving off an aura of power. Demitri had found the tomb of Anakaris, sitting right before his eyes a mere few yards away. However, the fact he got there without trouble was worrisome, almost as if he were invited in. Everything seemed too easy. Demitri starts to hesitate to move forward.

Suddenly, the sarcophagus spoke.

"What's wrong? Too scared to come in? Vampires are all cowards like your ancestor, Dracula!"

The vampire clan was the last of the Darkstalkers to leave the human realm, and Dracula was the last of this group. The power that Demitri is searching for is also hidden by Dracula.

The golden sarcophagus glowed an ethereal aura, which caused the skulls on the floor to come to life and float in the air. They went into formation as they stared down Demitri and made ready to attack.

"Dracula was the greatest warrior of our clan! How dare you mock him? CHAOS FLARE!" Demitri fired his Chaos Flare at the skull swarm. To his surprise, the skulls destroy his chaos flare and began to converge with each other. _'His power even destroys my chaos flare?'_

The skulls fused and formed into a tall skeletal warrior. It stomps its foot down heavily, cracking the tomb floor before advancing towards Demitri.

'_My power is decreasing, why? The situation is not good, seems like it is better to finish it quick!'_

Deimtri rushed the skeletal warrior. "Devil Stab!" With his supernatural strength, Demitri rained a barrage of punches on the huge skeleton, each attack fracturing its bones. "Noble Triumph!" He then jumps up and flips forward, slamming his feet down on the skeleton, breaking it in half.

Once it was destroyed, the sarcophagus opened up and out shot a huge mummified hand with an eye on its palm towards Demitri in an attempt to grab him. Reacting fast, the vampire punches the palm, but is pushed back from the force. Skidding to a stop, he looked down to notice a shadow forming around him. Looking up, he sees a huge muscled mummy over eight feet tall wearing a pharaoh headdress, bracers, and a pharaoh loin. His legs suddenly formed into an upside-down pyramid.  
20  
"Pyramid Drop!"

**Mummy: Anakaris  
Birth place: Egypt  
Birth year: 2664 B.C.**

The attack came too fast for Demitri to even teleport away. All he could do is to block Anakaris's attack with his bare hands. But for some unknown reason, Demitri's power got repressed inside the tomb, giving him an uneasy block. Grabbing the sides of the Pyramid Drop to stop it from hitting him, Demitri felt his legs buckle from the force as the ground around him shattered. He began to get driven into the ground like a nail as he was now knee deep into the floor. Demitri was losing strength, but struggled to stave off Anakaris.

"Demitri! Anyone entering my tomb will get repressed by the Makai chi around here, don't you notice?" Anakaris asked mockingly.

Demitri's eyes flashed with anger. "Anakaris! You shouldn't anger me! Black Satan!" Using the power of Black Satan, Demitri turns to his demon form and turns the tide. He easily shoved off Anakaris from him.

'_Impossible! How can he still has such power?'_ Anakaris thought as his legs reformed.

"You may be able to lower my power, but you can never lower my mind! Black Satan Devil Stab!" Demitri lands a heavy fierce punch into the hulking mummy, sending him flying back. He was not done yet as he rushed at the downed Anakaris and rained blow after blow of demon-charged punches. He kept up the assault until Anakaris and himself were driven through the floor and smashed through all the rooms below until hitting the lower base. Returning to his vampire form, Demitri cloaked his body for one last attack.

"BAT SPIN!"

Demitri unleashed his drilling kick into Anakaris's body, smashing into the ground before jumping away. Anakaris slowly got up from the assault as Demitri stared him down. "Anakaris! Going against me will only make you suffer more. Why don't you give me what I want and call it a day?"

Anakaris's ribs were no doubt broken, but Demitri's attack doesn't seems to cause that much pain despite that. "Demitri, don't think I have lost yet!"

Demitri only laughs at him. "Haha! I already know where to find the key even without you telling me where it is."

"Wh...what?!" said Anakaris in shock. _'How does he know?!'_ He then punched his fists together. "Then take it if you have the power!"

Anakaris's fists shine with evil light. The building structures around him began to break apart from the power emitted.

"Royal Punch!"

Anakaris threw his oversized fist at Demitri, who dodged. The ground he was standing on shattered upon impact. Demitri was forced to dodge again as Anakaris's fist obliterated a pillar. Royal punch is so powerful that Demitri has to get out from the attack range.

"How do you like this power? It was a gift from Ozomu-sama!"

"Ozomu again!" _'That damn Pyron!'_

Anakaris's sudden stops, giving Demitri a perfect chance to counter attack.

"I won't falter even if fighting against Ozomu, left alone you!" said Demitri as he flew towards Anakaris with his arms folded.

"Foolishness!" shouted Anakaris as he punched at Demitri. However, his fist went through him as the vampire suddenly vanished.

"Anakaris! You think I don't know your weak point?" Anakaris failed to realize in time Demitri had materialized behind him. Before he could turn to attack, Demitri punched his fist right through his ribs, breaking them. During his attack, he feels Anakaris's left ribs were injured before as well as something else. "This must be where the Satan Key is hidden!"

Japan Northern mountain regions…

Bishamon sits cross-legged on the snowy grounds with Kien stabbed in the ground to his side. Before him was his prisoner, Felicia, who was suspended between two wooden posts by shackles chained to her wrists and ankles.

"Dem.. Demi... tri..." said Felicia in her half-conscious state.

"If not for Ozomu-sama, I would have already killed you. You should be thankful, cat" said Bishamon as sat in wait.

On the other side of the mountain, a person was secretly observing Bishamon and his hostage. He had a shock of white hair and wore what looked like a purple kung fu outfit, but is of British descent. It seems he has some reason to come to that lonely mountain, but right now he does not do anything. He lies in wait and looks up at the night sky.

'_Come on, full moon, hurry up! If the full moon shines, I can save her!'_

The clouds began to part until the full moon shone brightly in the night sky. The man's eyes started to dilate as he hunched over as if in pain. His hair grew out and became wilder as his form began to bulk up until his shirt tore apart. His snout began to elongate as his hands and feet burst out claws that destroyed his shoes then began to grow blue and white fur all over his body. Finally, the man's teeth became sharp as his ears turned pointed before letting out a howl.

"AWOOOOOOOOOO!"

**Werewolf: Jon Talbain  
Birth place: England  
Birth year: 1940**

Bishamon looked up to where the howl came from. "What is that power?"

Under the white moon, Jon Talbain completed his metamorphosis into a werewolf. His eyes shine with a dangerous light as he looked towards where Bishamon.

'_Please wait for me, Felicia…'_

To be continued…

Done with this chapter. Demitri goes toe-to-toe with the mummy Anakaris to claim the final Satan Key. With Felicia as Bishamon's hostage, Jon Talbain makes his appearance to face the undead samurai spirit.

Read and review, please!


	6. Enter the Werewolf

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 6: Enter the Werewolf

Last time, to take back the royal power, Demitri went to the Egyptian desert and challenged Anakaris. Being Pyron's strongest warrior, Anakaris gave Demitri a never before hard challenge. Lucky for Demitri, with his calm calculation, he found Anakaris's weak point and figured out that was where the last Satan Key was.

Anakaris's pyramid…

Demitri had plunged his fist into Anakaris's chest, where he had sensed something within. His hand still in the mummy, Demitri opened and grasped at something.

"It's here!" He then forcefully pulled his fist out of Anakaris's body before unclenching it, revealing a shiny object. It was a small hexagonal gem with an emblem carved into it and eminating an eerie red glow. "Haha! Finally, I have obtained it! All the Satan Keys are mine!" The vampire noticed Anakaris slowly getting back to his feet. "Oh! You still want to fight with that injury?"

Anakaris stood at his full height, and despite Demitri's last brutal attack, the mummy smiled evilly. "Vampire! You think you can defeat me with that? You are so wrong!"

Clenching his fists, Anakaris lets off a wave of killing intent that cracked the ground around him from the sheer force. Demitri was nearly blown back and had to brace himself.

'_What? How come his power is increasing so much in just a moment?'_

"Surprised? You foolish vampire! Dracula used this key to seal my power and sealed me inside that pyramid! Now that you've take out the key, you've broken my seal as well! Seems like you won't have the chance to use that key now!" shouted Anakaris as he began to power up.

The power build-up began to shake the whole area.

Demitri faces down Anakaris. "Fine! Only with that power are you worthy to fight me!"

He lunged at the mummy and lashed out with his cape. To Demitri's surprise, before his attack could land, Anakaris moved back and vanished from sight. The huge mummy was suddenly right behind him.

"SANCTUARY'S DEFENSE!"

Anakaris plunged his arms into the ground, then four fists shot upwards, punching Demitri into the ceiling. The vampire coughed up some blood from the attack and fell towards the floor. Before he could land, Anakaris hits him with another attack.

"COBRA STRIKE!"

The mummy pharoah's fists turned into a huge cobra head and struk out hard and fast at Demitri, knocking him back with enough force to slam him out of the pyramid. He managed to slow himself down to levitate and look through the opening he had made at Anakaris.

"Vampire! Didn't you act all confident before? What about now? Want to escape?" Anakaris taunted.

Demitri considered his options. He had what he came for and really had no time to waste fighting the mummy pharaoh. With that thought, he flew upwards and stopped his telepathy.

Anakaris was taken by surprise when the whole pyramid began to shake violently. All the tons of levitated sand began to pour back in as it started to bury the pyramid once again while Demitri flies up to escape being buried along with it. Having not been out of the tomb for hundreds of years, Anakaris never would have thought of sand coming down from the sky. By failing to responsd in time, Demitri escapes.

Anakaris could only glower with anger. _'The time my wound is healed will be the time of the vampire's extinction!'_

Above the Sahara Desert…

Demitri's form bursts out through the desert sands, having avoided the pyramid's fate. He lands on the sand and smirks as he looks upon his prize, the final Satan Key. With enemies that strong, he realizes how important the key is. Although Demitri has it in his possession, he doesn't know why he's getting an uneasy feeling in his heart.

The wind began to pick up. Something flew past Demitri, catching his attention. He quickly shoots out a hand and grabs it. Upon closer inspection, it was a long strand of blue hair.

'_This smell... this feeling... could it be...?'_ Demitri's eyes widened realizing what it was.

"Ha! Demitri, feeling familiar? This is the hair of your beloved girl!"

"What!?"

Demitri turned towards the source of the voice and sees the fiery illusion of his enemy.

"We finally meet once again, my long time rival, Demitri!"

Demitri grits his fangs, recognizing the illusion. "Ozomu… or should I say, Pyron!"

Pyron just smirks. "First, I have to congratulate you for obtaining the last key of Satan's Dimension. If you obtain the power within, you will be able to be on par with my sol fire. I am looking forward for this. It's been a while since I had a good fight!"

"Pyron! Why do you have Felicia's hair?" Demitri demanded.

Pyron chuckles. "Oh vampire, where has your wisdom gone? The answer is of course, because she is in my hand! Just watch..."

The flaming alien holds out a hand, producing a flame above his palm. Within the flame showed an image of the unconscious Felicia strapped to the rack.

"Felicia!"

Pyron dispels the flame. "Listen! She is kidnapped by my underling. If you don't want her to die, hurry to the northern regions of Japan now! Maybe you can save her in time, maybe not, who knows? Go save your beloved, or go back, it is your decision. Better make your choice quickly, though. Hahahahaha…."

The flaming alien vanished with those taunting words, leaving Demitri alone in the desert.

'_Felicia...'_

Watching Pyron leave, Demitri looks worse than when he was badly injured against Anakaris. What is his decision?

Demitri suddenly sensed another presence in the area. Turning around, he sees Morrigan a distance away, looking at him. She had been waiting outside of the pyramid all that time, and had seen everything that just happened.

"Morrigan…"

The succubus beauty walked over to Demitri. "Demitri, since you obtained the last key, let's go open Satan's Dimension. The whole Makai is waiting for you. Come with me." She puts her hand on his wrist.

Demitri immediately pulls his wrist away from Morrigan, surprising her. "Wait! Morrigan... I need to do something else first. You go ahead, I will meet you there."

Before ending his speaking, Demitri turned and flew off fast.

"What? Wait! Demitri!" Morrigan knew Demitri was going to save Felicia, a feeling of jealousy fills her body. "Come back! Demitri! How can you abandon the future of Makai just for a mere catwoman?" She could only look off into the night sky where Demitri disappeared into. A lone tear runs down her cheek. "Demitri…"

Japan mountains…

Felicia was suspended on the rack as Bishamon sat by waiting for his intended target. The samurai was suddenly surprised by the howl of a wolf and immediately prepared for battle.

"Kien!"

The Kien katana flew into Bishamon's hand. He held the katana in a ready stance as he waited for his impromptu opponent. He was aware the enemy was within attacking distance, but was too fast.

"Who is it? Show yourself!"

He was greeted by a pickup of wind as something started to literally run circles around him at a very fast pace that Bishamon could only see a blur and the snow trail it left behind.

"You might be fast, but are you faster than my sword?" Bishamon slashed the Kien downwards, causing red shockwaves to shoot out in eight directions from him. The shockwaves shot out at the blueish ring running around him, but then a blue light suddenly changed direction, passing through a gap between the shockwaves and heading straight for the samurai spirit.

"BEAST CANNON!"

Bishamon had no time to react and was slammed hard. He managed to get a glimpse of what hit him. "Wolf?" The samurai was slammed hard into the mountainside. "Damn!" He gets back up and returns to there the rack was. However, the enemy wolf was already gone. Not only that, his hostage was gone as well, the rack completely empty and shackles opened. Whoever attacked had taken Felicia as well. This greatly angered Bishamon as he looked about to find where they are. He looked towards the forest, realizing that's the only way they'd go through to try and lose him.

'_So you want to pass through the forest to get to the other side of the mountain, eh? I will not forgive you!'_

Bishamon destroys the rack before rushing into the forest, eyes blazing.

Within the forest, Jon Talbain ran as fast as he could while carrying the unconscious Felicia in his arms. He looks at the catwoman with concern.

"Felicia... hold on, please don't leave me..."

What is their relationship?

Jon runs into a small clearing, where to his shock, Bishamon was already waiting in front of him among the falling snow flakes.

"I admire your speed, but there is no way you can escape bringing her along. Now, who are you?" Bishamon demanded.

Jon grits his teeth. "I... I have to save her..."

Bishamon points the Kien at the werewolf. "I ask you one more time, who are you and why do you save her? Answer me!" The tip of Kien is charged with full power. Jon continued to glare at the samurai in defiance. "Fine! Let's see how long you will keep silent!"

The Kien shot a ki beam at Jon and his rescuee. The only way he can dodge in time is to leave Felicia behind, but he has no intention to do so. "Dammit! Come on!"

Jon was only able to turn and avoid a fatal injuryHe howled in pain as the attack struck his shoulder, splattering his blood and falling to one knee. Bishamon was surprised by the werewolf's choice of not dodging, at the same time he discovered something else.

"You are indeed a durable one, wolf. Who is your father?" Jon only growled in response. "Speak!"

"I have no father!" shouted Jon angrily. Mentions of his father, Jon showed nothing else but hatred. His hatred is so heavy that even Bishamon could feel it.

'_Hmmm… could he possibly be…'_ Bishamon tabled those thoughts for later. "Anyway, if you don't give her up..."

"I will never leave her!"

"Then you will have to die!"

"Shut up!" Jon focused his ki into his own blood and threw it at Bishamon, who quickly blocked the attack with the Kien. Jon quickly broke into a fast run.

"You still want to struggle? If you refuse to give her up, you can only die!"

Bishamon gave chase.

Jon ran as fast as he could while carrying Felicia, but wasn't as fast due to his injury. He couldn't afford to fight the crazed samurai as he had the catwoman to think about. To him, her safety is top priority.

'_No one can take her from me!'_ From the corner of his eye, Jon caught a glimpse of Bishamon quickly closing the distance between them.

"Die!"

Holding Kien high, Bishamon slashed downward towards Jon. With the injury, there is no way the werewolf can escape from Bishamon's attack. In a few seconds, Jon's head will roll.

However, before that could happen…

"Die, Bishamon!"

Felicia awakened at that moment and kicked away from Jon, sending him flying back from the recoil as she sprang forward. Bishamon's sword had struck the space between them as a result.

'_She kicked me on purpose to save my life...'_ Jon mentally realized.

While Jon dodged the fatal attack, death was at Bishamon's back. Before the samurai realized what happened, he was struck.

"CAT SPIKE!"

Bishamon screamed in pain as Felicia slashed her claws down his chest. She pretended to be unconscious in order to wait for the chance to give Bishamon a critical blow. The catwoman flipped away and bared her claws as she looked at Bishamon.

"This time, I will finish you!"

To be continued…

Done with this chapter. Demitri gains the final Satan Key, but then got news of Felicia's capture. Jon appears and rescues Felicia from Bishamon's clutches. The reunion of Felicia and Jon will have to wait as Bishamon isn't out just yet. What will happen now?

Read and review, please!


	7. When Wolf Meets Cat

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 7: When Wolf Meets Cat

Egyptian Sahara…

Morrigan could only stand in the desert after Demitri had left. He made a decision against his nature: he chose to go to the snowy mountains of Japan to save Felicia. His decision mercilessly shattered the remainder of Morrigan's fantasy. The feeling of being abandoned is like the night of the desert, filled with a boundless cold.

'_Demitri… why…? Why her and not me…?'_

A huge flame erupts behind the succubus, startling her. She turned to see the flame form into Pyron's image. "Pyron-Sama!"

"Morrigan! You've seen it with your own eyes! You are nothing to Demitri!" said Pyron.

Morrigan cringed, realizing that he had overheard her previous conversation with the vampire. "Pyron-Sama, so you know... Yes, I am at Demitri's side and was planning to betray you. You can kill me right now…"

"Fine!"

Pyron holds out a hand, gathering his sol fire into it. Although he can only take the form of an illusion in the human realm, he still has enough power to kill Morrigan. Morrigan closed her eyes, accepting her fate. She knew this would happen should she ever be caught.

'Farewell... Demitri...'

"SOL SMASHER!"

A huge sphere of solar prominence was hurled at Morrigan and an explosion occurred, sand flying about everywhere that covered the night sky.

Morrigan was confused as she stood slightly sand-covered but unharmed. She looked at the deep trench formed beside her before looking at Pyron.

"Why... why not kill me?"

Pyron huffed. "You are, after all, a Darkstalker. The only place you should die is in the battlefield. I am not one to be wasteful of resources. As for who you should fight against, you should make your own decision."

Pyron then vanished from view, leaving Morrigan alone with her thoughts. She could only look down.

'_What… what must I do…?'_

Japan mountain region…

Felicia had sent Bishamon crashing to the ground after hitting him with her Cat Spike move. The Samurai began to slowly prop himself up with the Kien as Felicia stood in a fighting stance, claws bared.

"This time, I will finish you!" shouted Felicia.

Jon suddenly grabbed Felicia's wrist. "Don't!"

The catwoman turned her attention to the werewolf. Though she was glad to see Jon again after so long, there was no time for pleasantries due to the situation at hand. "Don't get in my way, Jon!"

"He is far too strong for us. If we don't run now, we will both die here!"

Bishamon stood up. "Don't even think you can escape from me! ONI KUBI HINERI!"

Felicia and Jon turned their attention to Bishamon, who extended the huge spectral hand from his chest towards them. Jon immediately got in front of Felicia.

"Jon!"

"Run, Felicia! I will handle everything!" His body emitted a blue battle aura and charged forth. "BEAST CANNON!"

Jon and Bishamon's attacks collided head-on with each other. However, Jon was already exhausted from his run and the previous injury he sustained in his shoulder, which was slowly healing due to his lycanthropy. He was pushed back as a result, slamming back into Felicia from the force.

"Felicia!"

Felicia had been knocked out from the hit as she and Jon were flying back. Jon chooses not to fight with Bishmon any further and wraps his arm around Felicia's waist. He goes into his Beast Cannon in the direction they were flying, the speed augmented from the momentum of Bishamon's attack. They vanished into the woods, heading in the direction of the mountain.

"Go on! Run if you can! Wait till my power surrounds the whole snow mountain and see if you can still manage to escape!" shouted Bishamon.

He raised the Kien and stabbed it into the ground. Stepping back, he formed a seal with his hands as he started to chant an incantation, which caused the Kien to vibrate and emit a dark aura. Suddenly, the Kien shot out a column of ki into the air, then ki waves shot forth towards the mountain, racing around it until it was encircled. The mountain was surrounded by a wall of ki from the Kien. Bishamon smirked at his handiwork.

"Let's see where you can run!"

"Do you need to spend so much power just to finish off some weaklings?" said a voice from behind.

Bishamon's eye twitched at the voice and immediately lashed out with a sidearm chop to the head. "Shut up!"

The attack was blocked by an ebony shield shaped like a bat.

"Long time no see, how are you doing, Mr. Accursed Samurai?"

Bishamon's eyes narrowed as he recognized the figure before him. "It's you!"

Standing before Bishamon was a muscled demon in dark armor with a bat motif and a purple cape. His exposed head showed chiseled features and deep crimson eyes. Two small bat wings protruded from his short red hair.

"Eligos, what are you doing here?"

"Do you know Ozomu-Sama has tricked Demitri to come here?" asked Eligos.

"So what? You think I will lose to that vampire?"

Eligos chuckled mockingly. "HmmHmm... I'm not so sure. Seeing you can't even handle a hostage, no wonder Ozomu-Sama cannot trust you."

Bishamon got angry at the insult. "What do you say?"

Although Bishamon has Felicia and Jon trapped inside the mountain, it didn't change the fact they escaped from him in the first place. Bishamon is angry about Eligos pointing this out. The grounded Kien feels Bishamon's wrath and starts to vibrate, reminding him not to forget his main task.

Eligos looks at the angry samurai in wonder. 'Why doesn't he attack me?'

Bishamon reigns his anger in to focus on his present task. "Eligos, I will remember what you just said, once I get rid of Demitri, I will deal with you!"

The accursed samurai passes through the barrier Kien had made and rushed into the mountain forest to search for Felicia and Jon. Eligos watched him disappear into the foliage.

'Seems like Bishamon is a tough opponent, but his sword is even tougher.'

Kien reflects a cold light to Eligos, showing him it is not done with him yet.

"Bishamon! Mr. Vampire is almost here! Hope you can find the hostages in time! Hahahahahaha!"

Eligos's laugh echoed throughout the snowy mountain, making Bishamon burn with rage.

'_Eligos! Some day, I will make you die under my sword! Catwoman, werewolf! You two will pay for humiliating me! But... Why can't I detect their Makai chi? Did they escape from my seal in time?'_

Actually, both Jon and Felicia are too injured to escape from the mountain. Every Darkstalker has his or her signature "Makai chi", much like every human has his or her own smell. Bishamon's plan was to feel Jon's and Felicia's Makai chi to locate them. He was confused as to why he wasn't able to sense the two werebeasts.

A cave in the mountain…

Deep in a cave's depths were two people, a man and a woman, both human. The man had a shock of white hair just past the shoulders and wore nothing but a pair of tattered kung fu pants and sash. The woman had a mane of waist-length azure hair and was completely naked.

Due to their exhaustion, Jon and Felicia had reverted to their human forms, and thus, their Makai chi vanished. Without it, they were under the radar of Bishamon's senses. At the moment, they were no different from regular human beings. However, like humans, they cannot stand the cold weather especially now they are both in a state of undress. All they can do is to hug each other tight for warmth.

Jon looked down at the human Felicia in his arms, having fallen asleep against his chest. Now any other guy would have jumped at the opportunity to have their way with a beautiful naked woman at such close proximity. Jon, however, had much respect for Felicia and had no intention to rape her, perish the thought. It just wasn't right.

Jon hugged the sleeping Felicia close to him, feeling a slight tinge of happiness of being united with her again despite their current situation. His mind reflected on his only happy memory.

'Oh Felicia…'

Flashback…

London, 1940…

The city of London was a city of dignity and class. In one part of this city was the red light district where the dregs of society congregate. One place was the most popular of the district, a brothel known as the "Howlers' Den". The place was considered the top brothel in the district, boasting containing the top-class dancers and prostitutes. The main star of the place was a dancer named Catherine Talbain, a luscious blonde with midback-length hair and a curvaceous figure that caught the eyes of any man. Catherine was the reason the establishment was so popular as she gave great shows and comfort.

On one full moon night, Catherine was walking through the woods after taking a call to meet someone. The address was on the way through the woods. She was confused as to why this client would ask her to come out there at so late an hour. The woods was a scary place to be alone at night, especially on a night like this. Catherine was nervous when she heard something like growling from within the trees. Suddenly, she turned to see something rush at her. Catherine screamed at whatever charged at her, the reflection of her eyes showing a werewolf.

The dancing star was attacked and raped by the werewolf, then left lying bleeding and naked on the torn remnants of her clothes. Catherine miraculously managed to get back home alive after the terrifying ordeal, but because of it, she became pregnant.

A few months later, Catherine gave birth to a baby boy, but died during the delivery due to blood loss. He was adopted by the owner of the Howlers' Den brothel and given the name of Jon. As a child, Jon was forced to do adult labor work to make end's meet. He grew up without the love of his mom, without friends, all he got was non-stop bullies in the form of the brothel's clientele.

When Jon was in his pre-teens, the Howlers' Den broke out into an all-out brawl from an argument with some of the clientele and the security, escalating to violent levels as some of the clients had hidden weapons. The place caught fire due to a thrown Molotov, causing a panic and everyone evacuating. Jon took the opportunity to escape the place, gaining his freedom but now he was homeless and had nowhere to go.

He ran as fast as he could to anywhere. Fatigued from running and from hunger, Jon collapsed before a church in the city's outskirts. The priest opened the door after hearing the fall and was shocked to see Jon's unconscious form at the doorstep.

Taking pity on Jon's plight of the events he went through, the priest, Father Thomas, adopted him to provide him shelter and a fresh start. The next few years, Jon worked at the church to earn his keep as thanks to Father Thomas for saving him those years ago. Although Jon tried very hard to become a Christian, his brain hurt every time he heard prayers.

During a service, Jon winced in pain as he sat in a cold sweat. A young woman sitting next to him became concerned.

"You are all sweaty, you okay?"

Jon turned to the woman. "I... I'm fine. Thank you..."

Once the church service was done, Jon sat alone with Father Thomas to tell him of his troubles.

"Father, am I not suitable to serve God?" asked Jon.

"God never gives up on anyone, my son. Maybe you just don't feel Him yet. Just give it time." Replied Father Thomas.

"Really?"

"The Lord works in mysterious ways."

Years later once Jon turned twenty, he finally learned that God might never accept him as his unknown heritage came back to haunt him. On a full moon night, a wolf howled in the distance. Jon was in his room asleep in his bed, but was woken up from the howling. He sat up with a start as the howls seemed to be getting louder.

'_Wolf howls…?'_ He had heard stories about werewolves in London, but Jon never met one. To his shock, he was somehow able to understand the howling. _'Who is calling me? Why do I understand wolf howls?'_

Jon left his room and headed towards the church hall. Suddenly, he heard a scream of agony from the chapel. Running towards the source of the scream, Jon burst through the doors of the chapel, a look of horror on his face.

The church workers were strewn about, lying dead in their own blood. The cause of it was a pack of seven werewolves who were brutally killing off the remaining people in the room.

"Werewolves?" Jon turned to see a fatally injured Father Thomas held by a werewolf. "Father Thomas!"

"Jon… run…" Father Thomas said weakly.

"Let Father Thomas go!" The werewolf threw Father Thomas hard into the wall, slamming hard enough to crack it. Because of the priest's weaker constitution and the werewolf's strength, he died from the impact and slid lifelessly to the floor. "FATHER THOMAS!" Jon turned to the werewolves in anger. "You demons! You'll pay for this!"

The lead werewolf scoffed. "Demons? Aren't you a werewolf just like us?"

That got Jon's attention. "You lie! How... how would I be a werewolf?"

"If you are not a werewolf, how would you understand the howls of us werewolves?" asked another werewolf.

"I can sense it in you… the blood of our king, the Wolf Lord Baraba Kreutz!" another werewolf added.

"We have waited for twenty years to find the heir. Today we are inviting you to come with us."

Jon was shocked. How could this possibly be? "No! I am no werewolf!"

"You don't believe? Let me prove it!" The werewolf clenches a fist and jumps up, smashing a hole through the ceiling with a punch. Moonlight shone in through the roof's opening upon Jon. "Look at the full moon and you will understand!"

Jon looked at the full moon and felt a severe headache. He broke into a cold sweat as pain erupted in his head and body. He screamed out as his body began to spasm. Suddenly, Jon's form began to undergo a supernatural metamorphosis. His body bulked up that tore through his clothes save his pants, grew blueish fur, amber claws, a tail, and a fang-lined elongated snout. Jon could only look at his transformed body in horror.

"No! How can this be!? How could I become a werewolf?!"

"You cannot deny what you are! Now come with us!" said the werewolf.

Jon wasn't listening as he was unable to come to terms with what had just happened. "I... I am not a werewolf... Father Thomas… please ask God to save me..." After a few seconds, he finally snapped. "I AM NOT A WEREWOLF!"

With a howl of rage and despair, Jon rushed at the werewolf pack with blood in his eyes. His claws and fangs bared, he lashed out, attacking in a berserker rage. The Kreutz bloodline awakened his Darkstalker gene and gave him much more power than a typical werewolf. With his gained power, Jon effectively killed off all the werewolves, blood splattering everywhere within the holy church.

The yells of agony got the townspeople's attention and immediately called the authorities to check on the disturbance. Jon, having come back to his senses, reverted back to a human. Seeing the lights outside, there was only one thing on his mind: run!

Once again, Jon was left without a home. The next few years he had gone into hiding, not wanting to risk another transformation in a crowded place. He knew the people wouldn't understand and would try to hunt him down. His Darkstalker heritage also caused him to age much more slowly than a normal human, so he continued to retain his youthful look. Eventually, Jon managed to flee the country and travelled through Europe and Asia, where he came across a hidden dojo in the woods. The dojo master was actually a Darkstalker himself, an old man with a dragon's arm. He knew about Jon's condition as a werewolf and offered him solace through martial arts training. Jon took him up on the offer to learn to suppress and control the beast in him. He was thankful to the old master and trained diligently. Again, the peace didn't last as a mob of hunters torched the dojo due to the master's status as a Darkstalker. Jon angrily tore through the mob, killing them all for the unjust murder of his master. Once more, he was on the run and fled to North America by stowing away on a ship.

A passenger train en route to Las Vegas, five years before the story's events…

Jon was running through the train cars as he was being pursued by the train security for sneaking on board without a ticket. He had been found stowed away in the luggage car and was forced to make a break for it.

Currently, the security staff was walking the hall, checking each of the train car's passenger cabins. Jon stopped to see an officer stopped outside a passenger's cabin. Seeing no time, Jon quickly opened the door to the cabin closest to him and entered before shutting the door. The officer noticed the door of the cabin at the end of the car close, causing him to get suspicious.

Jon mentally cursed, realizing that he might not have been as silent as he would have hoped. The officer was sure to have noticed the door's movements. To make matters worse, it was a full moon night, and Jon wasn't sure how long he could repress his werewolf transformation. If he was caught as a werewolf now, it would be all over. He had to escape somehow.

Jon looked ahead and realized the cabin he was in wasn't empty. Sitting on the passenger seat was a young woman clad in a thick trench coat, long skirt, and boots. Over her head she wore a kerchief where long blue hair flowed out the back. She did nothing but sit silently as she looked at Jon. Despite her neutral expression, Jon couldn't help but notice how beautiful the woman looked.

He had no time to dwell on that, though. There was an officer who was about to enter any minute, and he was unable to control his metamorphosis phase any longer, and before a witness. It looked really bad, to say the least.

"Madam, no matter what you see, please don't say a word, or better yet, close your eyes. I promise I won't hurt you." Jon said to the woman. "Please trust me. Ngh..."

Jon held his pounding head, unable to hold it anymore. His body began transforming.

Suddenly, the officer opened the door, with Jon hiding behind it. "Excuse me, have you seen anyone suspicious come through here?"

Jon, behind the door, prayed that he won't be discovered or ratted out on.

The woman spoke. "No. I looked out earlier to see what was going on and came back in."

The officer nodded, thinking she was the reason behind the door closing moments ago. Another officer comes to him. "Seems like he is not in this car, let's go to the next one."

The door shuts as the officers left.

Once the door was closed, Jon was revealed in the car's light in his werewolf form. He cringed, knowing that his current form would no doubt cause the young woman to scream out in fear, just like with everyone else who saw him like that. However, to his surprise, the woman didn't. In fact, she didn't seem at all scared of him. The moments of silence felt like an eternity.

"You… are not afraid of me?" asked Jon.

"Why do I have to be afraid?" replied the woman. She stood up and, to Jon's embarrassment, began to strip. Her trench coat and skirt fell to the floor as she slipped out of her boots, then finally pulled off her kerchief, shaking out her cat ears and cat tail.

Jon was shocked as he beheld the alluringly beautiful catwoman before him. No wonder she was not afraid of him. "You are also a Darkstalker?"

"Seems like I will have a companion to talk to on this trip. My name is Felicia. What's yours?"

"J… Jon Talbain…"

He had never thought he could have a friend, this trip became his happiest day ever.

End flashback…

Of all his memories, Jon treasured his meeting with Felicia the most. He felt that it was one of fate. They had travelled together for a time, but then had to separate as she was on a personal quest. He didn't want to leave her side, but he understood and followed her request. Now once again, they were reunited. Jon looked at the sleeping Felicia in his arms. She would always be in his sweetest dreams.

Felicia then softly called out a name.

"Demitri..."

Jon was shocked, having heard the name from her before. _'Demitri? You are still thinking of him? Can I never substitute him?'_

Felicia continued to sleep.

To be continued…

Done with this chapter. Jon's past is revealed and how his heritage as a werewolf came to the fore, then his fateful meeting with Felicia. Jon, however, is perturbed at Felicia's lingering feelings for a certain vampire. Next time, Bishamon continues to hunt down Felicia and Jon, and Demitri arrives at the mountain.

Read and review, please!


	8. To Trap a Vampire

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 8: To Trap a Vampire

Japan snowy mountain…

'_Damn it all! They are giving me no end of trouble!'_

Bishamon had been walking around the snow mountain for the past few hours, but still cannot find Jon and Felicia. He began to grow impatient from the fruitless search, getting angrier at every passing minute. Suddenly, Bishamon stopped, having realized an important fact, about Felicia's relationship with Demitri. He then shouts out at the top of his lungs.

"I will burn down this whole damn mountain! See where you two can still hide! Too bad you two won't be able to see how I destroy Demitri!"

In the cavern where Felicia and Jon were hiding, Felicia's eyes widened in shock. "Demitri… Oh! They are using me to lure him into a trap! I have to warn him..."

Jon slightly frowns. Even though he never met the man before, he still feels he hates Demitri all because of how much Felicia cares about the vampire. _'Why…?'_

"God above, please give me power!" said Felicia as her hair began to blow upwards.

She began to focus her power to transform into her catwoman mode, but before she could, she collapsed to the cavern ground unconscious, via sidearm chop to the back of her neck.

Jon, in his werewolf form, stood over Felicia's unconscious form with his hand up, after knocking her out. He looks at her apologetically.

"Forgive me for this, Felicia. No matter what, I won't let you die. If you want to fight, I will fight for your sake." Said Jon. He focused his ki into his hand and flicks a ki orb at Felicia, wrapping her naked body in an aura of light to prevent her from freezing to death in the cave. Jon was already badly injured, and by doing this, he had reduced his fighting strength. Fighting Bishamon as he is now is not much different from committing suicide. "Take care, Felicia... Hopefully, I will see you again soon in this life…" With resolve, he leaves the safety of the cave to confront the accursed samurai.

Bishamon continued to look about for his prey, when his senses went off. _'So, one of them is nearby…'_ He turned to see something charging towards him.

Jon Beast Cannons towards Bishamon. "Bishamon, let's fight!"

"You finally willing to show yourself?" said Bishamon as he leapt up to dodge Jon's attack.

"Kill me if you can, but I will not let you hurt Felicia!" shouted Jon as he then shot upwards after Bishamon in his Beast Cannon.

Bishamon is knocked out of the air and fell to the ground where Jon followed up with another Beast Cannon. The samurai dodged and parried a claw attack from the werewolf. Both began to trade blows with each other, each dodging or parrying the other. Even without the Kien, Bishamon was a tough customer.

The samurai spirit decided enough was enough and jumped upwards. Jon chased after him by doing an upwards Beast Cannon. Bishamon then held his arm out. "Kien!"

At the base of the mountain, the cursed katana pulled itself out of the ground, dispelling the barrier and immediately flew towards its master. Almost in an instant, the Kien reached Bishamon and was grasped firmly. He held it up in a stance.

"Now I shall cut you into pieces!"

"Just try it!"

The werewolf and ghost samurai collide with each other in midair. Blood then spurts out as Bishamon had managed to impale Jon through the side of his abdomen, causing him to howl in agony. To save Felicia, Jon ignores his injury and continues to fight Bishamon. However, with his bady wounded body, he is no match for him. Bishamon could also feel Demitri heading towards their general location, so he opts to finish Jon off quick.

At another part of the mountain…

Eligos stood at the mountain's forested base as if waiting for something. He held his bat shield in his left hand and a wicked-looking double-edged sword with a bat-winged handguard in his right. Looking up, he could sense a strong power heading his way.

"So, Demitri finally comes."

Surrounded in a corona of red light, Demitri flew full speed towards the mountain all the way from the Egyptian Sahara. Looking down, he caught sight of Eligos, and of an unconscious Felicia being suspended by her wrists on chains under a wooden rack. Immediately, Demitri dropped down hard before Eligos, creating a shockwave from the impact.

Eligos could only smirk despite the hateful glare he was getting from the vampire. "You are indeed fast, but from now on, you cannot move even one step forward!"

Demitri's aura emitted dangerously. "Eligos, if you still consider us comrades, please step aside. But if you insist on getting in the way, I will have to resort to killing you outright."

"If you want to kill me, you will have to defeat my elite knights first! Since you insist on going against me, don't blame me for this!"

Suddenly, black-armored knights, numbering over thirty, had appeared out of the ground and surrounded Demitri on all sides. All of them held out their swords threateningly.

"KILL HIM!"

Eligos's elite knights immediately jumped at Demitri to carry out their lord's wish. Despite the numbers disadvantage, Demitri showed no fear.

"You call these pieces of trash elite?" said Demitri as he made a motion with his cape.

He rushes forth at five knights and swipes with his cape, easily killing them in a shower of blood. Another knight tried to stab him from behind, but Demitri quickly turned and decapitates him with a punch to the head. The vampire then punches through the torso of another knight and throws him into more knights. He then lashed out with a kick that tore off a knight's head, then kicked at another, tearing off his torso which slammed hard into another group of knights.

Despite the difference in power, the elite knights kept on moving forward without fear. To save his beloved, Demitri would kill even his own kind.

Eligos couldn't believe what he was seeing. '_Damn! Demitri is much weaker than before, but my elite knights are still no match for him…'_ He then called for Demitri's attention. "Well fought, Demitri. I wonder what will you do if I do this?"

Demitri stopped to see Eligos pointing his sword at Felicia's neck, angering him. "You dare hurt her?! YOU BASTARD!"

The angry vampire lord immediately killed off all the remaining elite knights in one blow, then rushed towards Eligos with murder in his eyes.

'_Yeah, get angry. Anger will cause you to make mistakes.'  
_  
Before Demitri could reach Eligos, a hulking demon over eight feet tall appeared out of the ground before him. It was gray-skinned and humanoid, clad in only purple pants and was overly muscled. His right arm and fist were freakishly huge compared to his left one.

"Titanfist! Kill him!" Eligos commanded.

Titanfist moved fast in spite of his hulking build. Before Demitri could react, he was hit hard by Titanfist's oversized fist, knocking him back more than a few yards. Demitri's body tore a huge trench in the ground as he was knocked further into the forest, uprooting a few trees with his passing. He finally stopped and sat up to clear the cobwebs in his head.

'_Damn it! I have drained too much power fighting Anakaris and flying all the way here from Egypt!'_

When he looks up, Titanfist is already starting his second wave of attack. He descends down upon Demitri with a punch, intent on flattening him. Demitri quickly got out of the way before the ground he was on moments before got destroyed.

'_A low class demon like you dare fight me? Let me teach you a lesson...'_

Titanfist then punches at Demitri with full force. Before it could connect, Demitri counterattacks. He raised both hands at the huge fist and turned to his demonic form.

"GET MY RAGE!"

Demitri fired his ES Chaos Flare point-blank at the fist, engulfing Titanfist's entire arm in flame and reducing it to ash.

"Does it feel painful? Well I'm not done yet!" The demon vampire then gets on top of Titanfist's shoulders and grabs his neck. "DIE!" With supernatural strength, Demitri rips Titanfist's head and spinal cord off his body, effectively killing him.

Crack!

Eligos heard the cracking sound from within the forest and smirked. _'A sound of bone cracking, seems like the wounded vampire got killed by Titanfist.'_ He waits for his minion to return with Demitri's head, but was shocked to see Demitri himself walking back out from the forest. _'But how!? How could this happen? He can still fight?'_

" Eligos...now... you... you are the on...only one left... you still want to stru...struggle?" Demitri said with strain. Apparently, he was still hurting from the battles he has had.

Eligos took note of this. _'He sounds like his wound has gotten heavier. This is a great chance to kill him.'_

Demitri continued to glare at Eligos. "For Morrigan's sake, if you let Felicia go, I will spare your life."

" With your current condition, do you think you are in any position to bargain with me?" said Eligos in defiance. "What if I kill her?

To Demitri's horror, Eligos raised his sword and slashed at Felicia, beheading her.

"FELICIA!"

Demitri would not have guessed Eligos would suddenly kill her. He rushes to her in sorrow as Eligos leapt to the side. He catches her head before it fell to the ground, then realized something very wrong. For one thing, there was no blood, her flesh felt dense, and looking at her eyes, they were completely black.

'_A doll!? I am too careless, how did I not catch this? It's a set-up!'  
_  
"Demitri! For Morrigan's sake, I will give you a quick and painless death!"

Demitri turned to see Eligos behind him with his sword raised high. Because of his fights, he failed to react in time and the sword plunged deep into his shoulder. Blood gushed out, but Demitri refused to cry out in pain despite feeling intense agony. His mind is filled with hope knowing Felicia may still be alive.

'_Felicia… where are you…?'_

With Jon and Bishamon…

Jon was feeling great pain after getting impaled by Bishamon's katana.

"You lose! Now, die and be chopped to pieces!" said Bishamon as he prepares to attack Jon with the killing blow.

Jon didn't struggle, but he tightly grabbed Bishamon's sword arm to prevent him from moving.

"Bishamon, let's die together!" said Jon.

The samurai felt danger to what the werewolf was planning. Suddenly, Jon does his Beast Cannon, shooting himself and Bishamon forward at great speed, where they plow right off a cliff.

"Damn you!" shouted Bishamon. "Are you insane!?"

"If I'm going to die, then I'm sure as hell going to make sure I take you with me!" said Jon.

"Damn you, you psychopath! Let go of me!" Bishamon used his free hand to repeatedly punch Jon to make him let go, but the werewolf defiantly held on. The more Bishamon hit him, the tighter Jon held on.

As they plummeted down the cliff, Jon's thoughts focused on the one person who mattered most to him.

'_Good bye, Felicia...'_

He lets off a howl of agony and despair as he and Bishamon fell.

Dark cavern…

Human Felicia laid on the cavern ground. Demitri's thoughts and Jon's howl both reach her mind at the same time as she began having dreams about the both of them.

'_Demitri... Jon...'_

Felicia's eyes slowly began to flutter open and wakes up.

"Demitri! Jon!" She looked about the cavern trying to regain her bearings and recall what had happened. She looked down at herself and noticed the ki aura surrounding her body. She looked at her hand and realized what it was. "This is Jon's ki… Jon..."

Felicia gets back on her feet and focused her ki. Her hair blew upward as electricity surrounded her naked body. Felicia lets off a yowl, and in a flash, she turned back into her catwoman form. She had a determined expression as her ears perked and tail swayed.

"Jon...What have you done?"

The catwoman quickly rushes out of the dark cave to find Demitri and Jon.

To be continued…

Done with this chapter. Jon fights against Bishamon for Felicia's sake, and Demitri gets pulled into a trap by Eligos. Now that Felicia has recovered, she heads out to find them quickly. Next time, Demitri wraps things up with Eligos as the time of the Voice of Makai draws near. Pyron makes his appearance again to form on Earth, and Felicia reunites with Demitri and Jon.

Read and review, please!


	9. Reunion Under Fire

The Bats, the Cat, and the Wolf

Disclaimer: Darkstalkers belongs to Capcom. If it belonged to me, I'd make Felicia beyond God-tier.

Chapter 9: Reunion Under Fire

Last time, Jon faces off against Bishamon to protect Felicia. In order to finish off the accursed samurai, Jon propels the both of them off a cliff. At the same time, Demitri is lured into a trap by Morrigan's uncle, Eligos, who had pledged loyalty to Pyron. Using a fake Felicia, Eligos strikes a near fatal blow to the vampire. Sensing Demitri's and Jon's danger, Felicia's inner power awakens, with this new power, she rushes out the cave.

Japan snow mountain…

Felicia heads into the forest and stops to sense the ki signatures of Demitri and Jon.

"Jon is in this direction!"

The catwoman darts off in a different direction through the forest at high speed. She chooses to save Jon first because Jon's life signal is weaker than Demitri's. She came across the cliff where Jon and Bishamon had taken their plunge and jumps down, propelling herself down by wall-kicking off the cliff side. As Felicia got further down, she caught side of Jon tangling with Bishamon and was horrified at the state the werewolf was in..

"Found you!"

"What?"

Bishamon fails to react to Felicia's sudden appearance. She drops down and stomps both her feet into his throat, knocking him downward with enough force the Kien was pulled out of Jon's torso. The samurai spirit screams in disbelief as he was sent plummeting down the cliff. Even though Bishamon is strong, is it possible for him to survive the fall?

Once he was gone, Felicia looped Jon's arm around her neck and quickly carried him back up the cliff. Using her cat reflex and triangle jumping, She carried herself and her unconscious passenger up the cliff side and reached solid ground. She sets the unconscious werewolf down as she dropped to her knees in exhaustion.

As Felicia was trying to catch her breath, her danger sense went off as she felt an evil presence nearby.

"What? Wht is that!?" She looks off to the side where a sinister flame began to form and slowly grow in size. The cliff began to vibrate as small pebbles began to rise due to the power being emanated. Felicia was forced to shield her eyes from the brightness of the growing flame as she had a sense of foreboding. The flame then began to take shape, and the end result had Felicia frozen on the spot. She could only scream.

"DEMITRI!"

Other side of the snow mountain…

Demitri was in agony as Eligos had his demon sword buried deep in his shoulder. At that moment, he sensed his name being called.

"FELICIA!"

After feeling Felicia's presence, the badly wounded Demitri gathers up his power and turns to his demon form. Eligos was taken by surprise at this development.

"Impossible!"

Using the power of black Satan, Demitri reconstructs his muscle and bone. After reconstruction, Demitri's body turns stronger and Eligos's sword cannot cut in anymore. In fact, the sword was slowly being pushed back out. The demonic vampire turns to glare at Eligos. Before the demon lord could react, Demitri grabs him by the head and slams his face hard into the ground. He then picks him up and launches a hard uppercut into Eligos's gut, sending him flying upward. Demitri wasn't done yet as he jumped up after Eligos's form and grabbed him by the leg, then swings him right into the cliff side, shattering it considerably.

Demitri was about to continue the assault, but then the whole mountain shook. The vampire lord turns to look upwards into the night sky where the clouds suddenly began to gather. From above the mountain peak, a hole appeared above through the clouds where thunder began to sound. The mountain started to crack a bit from the power.

'_This sound… could it be…!?'_ thought Demitri.

Eligos began to chuckle. "Hehe...You heard it? The Makai Voice is up, are you scared to death?"

Demitri answers by pulling out the sword still lodged in his shoulder out and hurling it at Eligos, who was surprised to be the target of his own weapon. The sword was thrown with enough force to cave the wall in, obscuring Eligos' form.

"You think I would be scared? Makai Voice, I am coming!" said Demitri as quickly made a beeline to the mountain peak. After hearing the Makai Voice, Demitri doesn't bother with Eligos anymore. He uses all the power he has left to rush to the voice. "It is your time to die!"

From underneath the rubble, Eligos was trying to recover. "Demitri, you cannot stop it, Ozomu Sama is coming..."

Demitri puts on the speed as he races up the mountain.

'_Why is the Voice of Makai up now? Is there anything behind it?'_

Demitri knows Pyron is going to be freed by the Makai Voice where he himself did not make it to Satan's dimension in time to get the power all because of his own business. He is now deeply in regret.

"Damn!"

Mountain peak…

A column of light shot down from the clouds, intensifying the flame, and the alien of Hellstorm forms. Pyron has arrived. Felicia could only stare in shock and fear of the pyrokinetic alien.

"Felicia!" Felicia turned to see Jon slowly getting back up after his healing factor managed to heal up the worst of his wounds received from Bishamon earlier. "Stand behind me and wait for the chance to escape…"

"Jon!"

"Haha... What a deeply loved couple." Said Pyron mockingly as he levitated before the two lycanthropes. "You guys are so lucky to witness the moment of my arrival to the human realm!"

"What?!" said Jon.

The dimension behind Pyron's fiery illusion starts to twist with a series of giant sounds. From the light spilling out from the gaps of the twisting dimension, Pyron's real body is ready to break the seal between realms and get to the human realm.

"Soon, this planet will be a great addition to my collection!" said Pyron. At this moment, the evil atmosphere is driven out by a power rushing towards it. In the sky, a shining orb streaks across at high speed. "That is...?!"

"What is that…?" said Felicia.

The shining orb heavily lands in front of Pyron with the force of a huge meteor, taking all three by surprise. The cliff was shattered as if a bomb exploded from within it. The explosion of power caused Felicia and Jon to be flung off the cliff. Jon looked down in horror as Felicia began to plummet down.

"FELICIA!" The werewolf was still recovering and was unable to move no matter how much he tried to.

Felicia closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come. She could only think sadly about her promise. _'Forgive me, Demitri… I wasn't able to keep my promise… goodbye…'_

Before Felicia could fall to her death, a shape streaks through the falling rubble towards her. Suddenly, Felicia felt someone grab her around her shoulders, stopping her fall. "What…?"

"It looks like I made it."

Felicia turned at hearing the familiar voice.

"Demitri!" The catwoman was overjoyed to reunite with the vampire, but the feeling was cut short as she remembered Jon. She sees the werewolf falling past them. "Oh no! Demitri! Please save Jon, too!"

At the destroyed cliff, Pyron was shocked at what the shining orb had done.

"It can even block the Voice of Makai! What power is it?"

The orb makes a series of deep and thick voices which cracks the gate between dimensions. It spins at a high speed, giving off a whining sound as the dimensional gate began to crack and fade, until the gate was finally closed off.

The most important use of the Makai Voice is to form a gate to transfer the sol fire into the human realm. Without this gate, the sol fire cannot last in the human realm. Without the support of sol fire, Pyron cannot act in the human realm. Therefore, without understanding what is going on, Pyron does not want to step foot into the human realm. It was then Pyron realized who may be responsible for this setback.

"It is him! I remember now, I never thought he would interrupt me in this crucial moment!"

Who is this person who could make even Pyron hesitate? The orb powered down, which is then revealed to be a wooden bead the size of a bowling ball. Where is it from and who owns it?

It was at that time, Demitri flew back onto the cliff, cape flapping. In his right arm, he held Felicia close to him around her waist. In his left, he held Jon by the wrist.

"PYRON!"

Demitri touches down on solid ground where he then drops Jon to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He may have followed Felicia's request to save the werewolf, but that didn't mean he had to give him the same care as her. Jon gives him an angry growl, but Demitri ignored it.

The vampire looked at the large bead imbedded in the ground. _'This bead destroys even the Voice of Makai, whose is it?'_

Pyron gets the trio's attention. "Demitri, consider yourself lucky to be able to stay in the human realm for a little bit longer. But don't get overjoyed. The five keys that you risked your life to earn are now in my hand all because of a person who once was most loyal to you now betrayed you for revenge."

This caught Demitri's attention. "You sent someone into my castle? It's impossible."

"Oh is it? Haha! Take care!"

With that final barb, Pyron finally disappears. Demitri has a strange feeling, a mixture of anger and sorrow, because he has a good idea of who Pyron was talking about.

'_No…'_

Felicia could only look at Demitri in concern. "Demitri…"

Romania outskirt, Castle Zeltzereich…

Demitri's castle in the human realm is the most mysterious castle in the world. That is because besides being built inside a forest, the castle is surrounded by fog with 90% density. The setting makes it hard to locate the castle and also covered Demitri's Makai chi. Therefore, even after hundreds and thousands of years, Pyron's warriors still fail to find it.

But today is different, because there is someone leading the warriors into this one and only passage.

Heavy steps echo the corridor of the castle's interior. Three shadows stop before a door.

"Break it down."

One of the shadows ran to the door and smashes it open with brute force. Standing at the destroyed door was a towering eight-foot hulking golem. He was clad in brown pants, brown shoes, blue fingerless gloves, and a green suit coat that only had the right sleeve. The golem had light and dark blue skin in patches, spiky short blond hair, and two big bolts protruding from the sides of his temples. He is a man-made golem, a Frankenstein monster.

**Frankenstein Monster: Victor****  
****Birth year: 1830****  
****Birthplace: Germany**

Victor lowered his two oversized fists after destroying the door. Accompanying the Frankenstein Monster are the zombie Lord Raptor, and the succubus Morrigan!

"Hi~~~! LONG TIME NO SEE!" said Lord Raptor towards the page before pulling out a smoke and taking a puff of it. "Smoking hurts your health! NO SMOKING PLEASE!"

Morrigan ignores the zombie and lead the way in. The three had broken into the secret underground lab of the castle where they find the Satan Gate.

"What is this artifact? Looks like it is even older than me!" said Raptor.

"Victor! Destroy it!" Morrigan commanded.

"Don't even think about it!" said a voice. Morrigan was surprised at the voice as suddenly, Denial dropped down on top of the gate. "Miss Morrigan! How can it be you?"

"Denial...You think you can stop us?" said Morrigan.

"Since you and master are from the same race, I thought you will join us to fight against Pyron, but it seems I am too naive! You are a dog sent to us by Pyron right from the beginning!"

"What makes you think you can stop us?" said Raptor as he and Denial lunged at each other. Denial lashed out at the zombie with his left fist. However, his arm was sent flying after Raptor sliced it off with his chainsaw leg. Raptor was surprised when he noticed something. "F-! You don't have blood?"

"Fool!" said Denial. From the stump where his arm used to be, another arm sprouts out, only except it was red, clawed, and demonic. The old manservant then transforms into his demon form, where he became bulkier, and now sported horns on his head.

"Kill him!" Morrigan commanded.

Raptor and Victor lung at Demon Denial.

To be continued…

Demitri and Felicia reunite again, and Pyron's coming had been delayed by someone's interference. Seems like a certain dhampir is close by… Morrign has betrayed Demitri and is now after him. Demitri, Felicia, and Jon now must get off the mountain before Eligos finds them…

Read and review please!


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